


Maknaetion

by issaparker



Series: Maknaes of the Nation [1]
Category: ITZY (Band), NCT (Band), Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Eventual Happy Ending, Everyone Has Issues, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Huening Kai Is Bad At Feelings, I'm Sorry, Jeongin has his own issues, M/M, Maknaes uniting together bc we need this, Meaning he's a jerk but he's trying i promise, Mentioned NCT Dream Ensemble, Mentioned Other ITZY Member(s), Mentioned Stray Kids Ensemble, Mentioned TOMORROW X TOGETHER Ensemble, Problems, Sad Yang Jeongin | I.N, Yang Jeongin | I.N is a Sweetheart, Yang Jeongin | I.N-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24268381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/issaparker/pseuds/issaparker
Summary: The first time Jeongin helped out a fellow dongsaeng from another group wasn't on his list of things to do.The second time wasn't meant to happen either, but he still couldn't resist.The rest? Well, things just happened. Beyond his control.Or;4 times Yang Jeongin helped his '01 Line dongsaengs,4 times he helped THEIR dongsaengs,And 1 time they all come together to help him.
Relationships: Kang Taehyun/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Yang Jeongin | I.N & Everyone
Series: Maknaes of the Nation [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070582
Comments: 16
Kudos: 237





	1. '01 Line

**Author's Note:**

> I know I have a whole other story to do but TXT's comeback had me starstruck and before I knew it, this happened.
> 
> Note: this takes place during the time of now, no pandemic happening bc my universe says so.
> 
> This goes out to the 01 Liners that I know have interacted with Jeongin. I'm sorry if a particular idol you think should be here isn't here. I'm still learning on some groups.
> 
> This is was also for the lack of multi fandom stories I am deprived of, so what better way than to get content by making it?
> 
> Note: I am no way an expert of whatever issues expressed down below or aware of any cooking skills Felix's hones, I'm also still learning on that. And also not very knowledgeable of KCON, I just wanted a dramatic moment here ehe.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

⁃

**1 - Choi Beomgyu**

The first time Jeongin helped out a fellow dongsaeng from another group wasn't on his list of things to do.

  
Jeongin and Beomgyu are well aware of each other's existence, and sometimes indulge themselves in having some private hangouts just to enjoy the company of being friends. Jeongin is older by a month, and is fond of the fact Beomgyu doesn't exactly talk to him like he was some senior idol or something. The younger is a naturally outgoing person compared to himself, but he supposed that's how they get along.

  
He hasn't seen Beomgyu in weeks, considering Tomorrow by Together we're having frantic schedules on an upcoming comeback and Stray Kids too were in preparation for one soon, but today had been quite the coincidence.

  
He was out near Music Bank, having a stroll outside after being cooped up too long taste testing Felix's cooking and entertaining Seungmin and Hyunjin, a walk wouldn't be so bad, he thought. He did consider the idea of fans recognizing him, but the disguise he wore seemed fit enough to obscure his idol image, and make him look more like a regular citizen as much as possible. He had to borrow Seungmin's clothes and Changbin's cap, but it's fine, they won't be mad.

  
What he did fail to consider was the amount of fans that would be around today. A lot of groups had comebacks recently, therefore the paparazzi multiplied, and that means Music Bank is technically a black hole of them. He cursed silently when he saw the crowd of fansights and interviewers doing their best to mob the hell out of the area. The idols rushing in were lucky not to get caught up, but Jeongin had noticed the unreasonable tall boys obviously towering and struggling unluckily through the mob.

  
So Tomorrow by Together we're here today too, he wonders if they're doing a pre-recording or maybe a scheduled check-in before their comeback. Either way, they were all still far from the entrance, or even the gate to get through, and Jeongin could see they're becoming more separated from each other.

  
He notices the member at the far back struggling the most to be Beomgyu. The poor teen was shrugging off the hands that grabbed his shoulders, and trying not to harshly shove at the cameras flashing in his face. He wore a mask, but Jeongin could see the total discomfort he had bestowed, and it ached him because he knows what it feels like to get mobbed. His own Hyungs always protect him from getting trapped by the paparazzi, but even he knows it's still irritating.

  
"Everyone, please! Back away! Give a safe distance for them!" Some of the staff of the building had tried ushering the fansights away, but to not vail as there just too many. Beomgyu was getting left behind, his Hyungs and dongsaengs being dragged elsewhere as they all fight to get through.

  
Jeongin spots an opening in the crowd, where Beomgyu had apparently stopped walking and tried to find a way through due to the multiplying fans.

  
Without thinking, he sprints over the fence that's meant to keep the fansights at bay and shoots forward within the opening to grab Beomgyu's arm, easily pulling him out of the crowd.

  
The younger doesn't have time to struggle when Jeongin takes off running, pulling the teen with him and heading straight for Music Bank, a clear path that was distant enough from the fans mobbing one side.

  
"Wait- _wait!_ My members!" Beomgyu cries, trying to retract his hand from Jeongin's grip, but they've made it through the entrance, where a staff member checks them over, taking note of Jeongin's presence easily.

  
Said teen turns to face his friend, pulling down his mask, "You okay, Gyu?"

  
Beomgyu gasps suddenly, recognition shining in his eyes, and he yanks down his own mask, " _Yeni!_ Oh my god, I thought I was being kidnapped," he puts a hand above his chest, seemingly calming down his breathing, but his eyes gleam with relief and fondness at the sight of Jeongin.

  
"Sorry, I was in a hurry to get you out of there," Jeongin looks non-apologetic, his devious smile appearing rich even from far away.

  
Beomgyu smiles, "Nah, it's okay- Wait, what are you doing here?"

  
The older shrugs, "I was just having a stroll when I saw the commotion. You were having it rough back there, I had to help."

  
" _Awww_.." Beomgyu cooes, smiling wider and nudging his friend's shoulder, "you're so sweet. Thank you," he bows respectively, grateful for the save.

  
Jeongin waves him off, "It's nothing, you're my dongsaeng, of course I have to help. Well, among other things, you're my friend." He reaches out and pinches the younger's cheek, cooing at the soft plum cheekbones.

  
Beomgyu pouts with a whine and it's too cute than it should be, but Jeongin pats his shoulder, "You should probably go get ready. Schedule, I'm guessing?" He asks.

  
"Yeah, just another hectic day. I'm glad we saw each other, it's been ages,"

  
"It hasn't been _that_ long,"

  
"It _has_."

  
Jeongin rolls his eyes. Then came the sound of rushing footsteps came from the entrance behind them. He glances around Beomgyu's head to see the rest of TXT running in, looking disheveled and worse for wear. Yikes.

  
"Guys!" Beomgyu gasps again when he turns, running to them, looking worried. "Holy- what happened out there?"

  
They're all catching their breath, but Soobin allows Kai to be taken away by some staff, then attempts to compose and fix himself a little, "The fans stopped Hyuka and so I had to dive back in. Pulling him out just wasn't easy," he huffs, then looks at his dongsaeng oddly, "Wait, how'd you get through? It was a riot out there and weren't you at the back somewhere?"

  
Beomgyu smiles cheekily, stepping aside, revealing Jeongin walking up to them, "I had a knight with no horse." Beomgyu says smugly.

  
The SKZ member bows respectively first before asking, "Is everyone okay?" He looks them over, only finding unkept hair and wrinkled clothes to be their main issue.

  
"We're okay, don't worry," Soobin assures, smiling softly at the younger. "Thank you for helping Beomgyu, with the distance, we might've never reached him."

  
Jeongin scratches the back of his head shyly, "It was nothing, I'm happy to help out a friend," he tosses a grin to said friend, who chuckles.

  
Taehyun unfurls from where he was bent over to retrieve his breath, marveling at Jeongin, "You pulled Hyung out and ran here without getting mobbed? How?"

  
Jeongin smiles, "Just gotta be quick, like shooting your shot." he winks. Taehyun's cheeks redden a little.

  
Yeonjun adjusts his clothes, tilting his head curiously at Jeongin, "Are you here with anyone, Jeongin-ssi?"

  
The younger winces, "Oh god, please don't call me that, just Jeongin is fine, Yeonjun-Hyung. And nope, I was walking around alone. I have to leave soon anyway." He bows to them again, and they reciprocate.

  
He then turns to Beomgyu, "I'll see you around, Gyu, don't be a stranger."

  
"Wait!" Beomgyu urges, rushing forward to collect the shorter male in a hug, "Thanks again, you're a great Hyung, Yeni." He tells him softly, earning an ache somewhere deep within Jeongin's chest. But he hugs back, patting the younger's back comfortingly.

  
"It's no problem."

**2 - Shin Ryujin**

The second time wasn't meant to happen either, but he still couldn't resist.

  
"Didn't this end up in a disaster like, three times in a row?"

  
"Come on, Innie, I've gotten better at it. Besides, Minho-hyung's here to supervise us, not that he needs to."

  
"That's.. still not reassuring."

  
Jeongin sighs, taking a glance at Minho behind the camera, who's just sitting there on his phone, not even remotely interested in helping out.

  
Felix and Seungmin decided it would be a _great_ opportunity to showcase _another_ cooking session for a Vlive episode, considering Felix has reached an acceptable level of his cooking skills. He wanted to perhaps grill a few things and or make a stew, anything heavy that can fill up their hunger for the day, even with the protest of their staff members and managers.

  
What Jeongin is afraid of is the war flashbacks of the last time they'd done this; failing at making smoothies and creating a huge mess, any unsuccessful dessert episode of Felix in it ever, and even the pancake disaster. Not to mention all the other goddamn cooking Vlives they've ever done with the other members.

  
He shudders.

  
It's assuring at least, that Felix has been improving better at making pastries and even full course meals at the dorm, occasionally with Seungmin helping out, but Jeongin doesn't quite trust the idea of doing it on Vlive just yet. Sadly it was too late to even stop them, since they're here now, at the JYPE dining area yet again while Seungmin was in the kitchen, starting up the stew and Felix was chopping vegetables.

Their logical counter argument to Jeongin's protests of this idea was to add Minho in the picture, and considering the fact that Minho can be a disaster on his own even without a handful of times, things may have just gotten worse.

  
Jeongin sighs, holding the camera further away from himself and towards Felix, who's discretely eating some bits of carrots he was chopping up. There's already some meat being grilled by Seungmin as they film, all the while multitasking for the stew, which honestly seems like he needs help but Minho isn't even _doing_ anything. It's not that he doesn't trust his Hyungs, but this was getting ridiculous. Making desserts is one thing, but cooking a meal meal could set the kitchen on fire.

  
Hell, even the comments from Stays think so, _"Please don't burn the place down T.T"_

  
"I.N, say 'ahh'," he lifts his gaze back up to Felix, holding out a piece of carrot in front of him, smiling cutely and expectantly.

  
Jeongin resigns to his fate once again, complying and allowing his Hyung to feed him. Sure, he's acting like the actual adult here, but nobody can resist Felix-Hyung or free food.

  
"Don't make a mess, kids." Minho calls without looking up from his phone, for like the fifth time in a row.

  
Jeongin rolls his eyes. Some supervision he is.

  
Where his eyes end up, however, is at the glass entrance to the dining area, where a figure stands, looking like they were contemplating whether to enter or not.  
Jeongin squints his eyes, attempting to see better, and finds the familiar silhouette of Ryujin, judging by her height and hair. She was peeking through the glass door, trying to see who was in.

  
"..huh," is all he utters before Jeongin sets the camera phone down, angling it in a reasonable view for fans to see both Felix and Seungmin, then takes off to the door, ignoring Felix's curious hollers for him.

  
By the time Ryujin spots Jeongin's striding figure making his way for the door, it looks as if she was about to turn away and run off, but he waves for her to enter.

  
She looks taken aback, but pushes open the door, bowing slightly. Her outfit is that of what one would wear for a day in the dance studio, or even a workout. She looks out of breath in the very least, but her posture is only stiff from the awkwardness of being caught by the door.

  
"Hey, Ryujin, what brings you here?" He asks after bowing back, allowing her step past him. She stays back when spotting Minho, Felix and Seungmin eying her.

  
"Ah, I was just checking to see who was here." She answers, pirouetting to Jeongin, smiling sheepishly. "Plus, something smells good from all the way outside."

  
Jeongin chuckles, "Is that so? Guess Felix's cooking really is getting better if it hasn't burnt to roast just yet."

  
Ryujin grimaces, "Wasn't he and Seungmin-oppa banned from the kitchen a while back?"

  
"Oh yeah, but as you can see, that hasn't stopped them." He gestures to the duo in the kitchen, who wave and flash a smile in their direction. She reciprocates.

  
"Okay, but for real, what brings you here? Are you hungry?" He asks, narrowing his eyes at her. Judging by her hesitant tone earlier, she must've been covering up the real reason she was here.

  
And with the off-guard expression she bestowed, he was right.

  
She bites her lip nervously, "Well, I was just practicing in the practice room and.. I kinda.. well, I wanted to grab maybe an energy bar or something, but the food in here smelled delicious, it was tempting," she starts frantically waving her arms around in alarm, "Not that I want to intervene! It looks like you guys are having a Vlive and I don't wanna intrude."

  
Jeongin snorts, shaking his head, "It's fine if you wanna wine and dine with us. Now that I know you're hungry, I'm not letting you leave until you grab at least a few bites of the grilled meat."

  
Ryujin's eyes shone with interest, "Grilled meat?" She repeats, looking mildly interested.

  
Jeongin chuckles, ushering her towards his members, despite her protests, "Come on then, have a seat near Minho-Hyung, you'll get served first once Lixie-Hyung and Minnie-Hyung are done."

  
Left with no choice, Ryujin pouts slightly but makes her way awkwardly to Minho, who bows as able as he can from his sitting position while she takes the chair across from him.

  
"Are.. you supposed to be supervising them, Minho-oppa?" She asks hesitantly, finding him to be slightly intimidating sometimes but he flashes her a cute little smile.

  
"Yep, and even from here, I can tell they're doing a swell job."

  
"You barely left your seat nor glanced this way. If anyone's supervising, it's _me_." Jeongin drawls out from where he stood next to Seungmin, throwing in some ingredients Felix had passed him. Minho rolls his eyes playfully.

  
After doing so, Jeongin walks towards the camera, picking it up and showing himself on screen, his habit of fixing his hair present and all. "Sorry about that, everyone. We have a new guest on board today and she'll be the first taste tester to Felix's progressing cooking skills," he pans the camera towards Ryujin.

  
" _Shin Ryujin in the building!_ " He gushes loudly, earning snorts of laughter from his Hyungs and a shy Ryujin covering her face embarrassingly.

  
She gives a short wave behind her smiling figure, eyes sparkling with adoration at the amount of fans that came to see them cook up a storm.

  
"Hello, Stays! And I hope Midzys are watching too. This is my first time having a mukbang with Stray Kids-sunbaenim. Quite unexpected." She eyes Jeongin from the corner of her eyes, giggling a little.

  
Felix coos from across the room, "I hope you'll like what I'm gonna serve! Seungmin, no slacking off!" He scolds.

  
Seungmin swats the other with a clean ladle, tusking lightly, "I'm the one making the stew. Get back to chopping, Lix."

  
They unfold to bickering, much to Jeongin's dismay and Ryujin and Minho's amusement.

  
"If the cooking isn't a disaster, the people are." Jeongin comments, looking directly in the camera with a pout. He notices the amount of fans watching have significantly increased from 600,000+ views to 10 _million_ \- holy _what_ -

  
The comments consisted of the fans laughing at their antics and shocked reactions in seeing Ryujin appear. Some even request to see her, in which he obliges. He walks around from the kitchen towards the dining table she was seated on, smiling when spotting him.

  
He brings the camera to her, grinning, "Here, have a talk with some fans while we finish up, yeah? I'll be back." He tells her, waving goodbye to the fans curtly before rushing off.

  
Ryujin takes the camera, chuckling a little and getting shy at the situation. "Sorry, it must be odd to see me in a Stray Kids' Vlive," she sets the camera down carefully, adjusting the angle.

  
Minho hums, the corner of his lips quirking upwards at her, "We're all part of the JYP family, it's okay to make your own cameos in others' Vlives. We just haven't been doing it much until now."

  
She nods in agreement, "You're right, oppa," her attention goes to the fans' comments, her eyes catching sight of several greetings of seeing her and questions purely meant for her.

  
"' _Eat well Ryujin-ah!'_ "

  
"' _Pls run if Felix or Seungmin start a fire ._.'_ "

  
"' _Say hi to Lee Know for me!_ '"

  
"' _Are you and Jeonginnie good friends?_ '" She reads out loud, before smiling bubbly, "Well, he wouldn't invite me here if we weren't. We aren't that close though, but he's really nice to me."

  
Jeongin comes back, a few plates and silverware in his grasp. "Of course we're good friends. And even if we weren't, I'd still invite her to eat with us," he tells the fans, bending down beside the table to get in the shot, presenting an eye smile to Ryujin, "I'd like to be close friends if you want, though. We should hangout sometime soon, you can invite Chaeryeong too. We're in dire need of '01 Liner friendship."

  
Ryujin barks out a laugh, clapping her hands in praise for his words, "Aish, you're right, we do." She agrees, grinning widely. Jeongin returns the grin, standing up and taking a seat beside her.

  
" _Aaaaaand voila!_ " Felix and Seungmin's voice come booming from the empty dining hall and kitchen, bearing a tray of steamy vegetable chicken stew and richly grilled meat they made along with some condiments, a large bowl of rice, an omelette and a variety of drinks in another tray.

  
Minho took a sharp sniff at the smell of the food, sighing contently. Meanwhile, Jeongin and Ryujin had their eyes bulging out of their sockets at the amount.

  
"You guys really went all out- wow," Ryujin breathes out, also taking a whiff, and smiles. " _Oooh_ , it smells delicious. Nice job, boys."

  
Felix bows dramatically, a smirk playing his lips, "Thank you, my dear."

  
Seungmin elbows him, "Thanks Ryujin. Please, enjoy." He tells her, smiling politely.

Jeongin provides her a generous portion of the food, not too much to make a full meal, mind you, but enough to fill her stomach after practice. She may be having another schedule after this anyway. Besides, it's not right for a man to do everything for her; she can choose and do things for herself.

  
When he's done picking out the essentials, he places the bowl gingerly before Ryujin, handing her a pair of chopsticks. She takes it with a short bow, or nod in her case, and digs in. The boys around her don't mean to stare, but after she takes the first bite, her eyes widen, stopping halfway.

  
"Is it okay?" Felix asks, looking hopeful, but also fearing the worst.

  
"Is the stew a little bland? I should've added more strong flavor.."

  
"How's the taste? If it's awful, I have the right to scold them. Chan said so, and the staff."

  
"Yah! Hyung, is that why you volunteered to supervise us?!"

  
Jeongin shakes his head and ignores his members' bickering that turned into an argument, choosing instead to ask Ryujin's opinion of the food, when he sees her continue eating the meal with a wide smile, humming in delight with each bite.

  
He blinks. Well, there's that.

  
"That good?" He asks.

  
"Absolutely!" She yips, smiling even with stuffed cheeks that she realizes were exposed in Vlive, now attempting to hide her features. The spamming of hearts begs to differ and Jeongin agrees; she's adorable.

  
He chuckles breathlessly, "Good then, eat well, yeah? Don't be shy to ask for more. You shouldn't abide eating, if you see us around here again, don't hesitate to barge in." He tells her, grabbing a bowl for himself now, still ignoring the trio arguing.

  
Ryujin swallows, eying Jeongin carefully, setting her bowl down. Inwardly, she's deeply grateful for his observation of her outside the door earlier, but outwardly, she glances towards the camera, smiling softly, then to him again. "You're a good sunbaenim. Thank you for inviting me, Jeongin-o-"

  
"Ah! Nope!" Jeongin's finger shoots up before her, effectively stopping her next word. He has an apprehensive look darted towards her.

  
"You're what- _two months_ younger than me, born on the same year, therefore I _forbid_ you to call me-" he grimaces, inhaling a sharp breath that sounded like a shudder, "-' _Oppa_ ', okay, understand? Feel free to call me Jeongin, or Innie, or even Yeni. Beomgyu calls me that."

  
Ryujin laughs, finding amusement in his behavior. "Think I've heard of this. What's with the term 'Oppa' to you? Are you just not used to it?"

  
Jeongin pours two glass mugs of watermelon juice, scoffing. "That's about it. It's not.. _weird_ , per se. It's just.. Ah, I don't know. Just take what I say and do it okay? We're friends, and I don't really want any of my female friends close in age to call me 'Oppa', or even Stays my age to do so either," he shoots the camera a look, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

  
Picking up both mugs, he hands one to Ryujin, then holds out his own, "To being friends, finally."

  
She grins again, giggling, and they clink their glass mugs together, "Friends."

**3 - Zhong Chenle**

The third time happened at Music Bank again, but he'd meant to find Beomgyu.

  
Tomorrow by Together's comeback was _amazing_ as usual, he couldn't get the song out of his head. Between ' _Puma_ ' and ' _Drama_ ' he couldn't choose, for real, but ' _Can't You See Me'_ is too damn good, he called Beomgyu right away while jamming to it as loudly as he could. The other couldn't even express embarrassment as he was also jamming to his song wildly in his own dorm.

  
They had another performance scheduled for the next few days, so Jeongin decided to do a surprise visit the very next day. His own schedules were finished by morning, so he went by in the afternoon, avoiding crowd as usual and making sure to keep an eye out for any mobbed idols. Luckily enough, everyone who had their comeback recently and performances today were safely within the building by the time he arrived. That's good.

  
Upon entering the building, Jeongin kept an eye out for Beomgyu. Perhaps he was in one of the dressing rooms. He hoped it was fine if he intrudes. He had flowers and a few packets of sweets for all of them just in case, even extra within his bag. He took the liberty of buying gifts just to congratulate them if showing up wasn't enough. Though, knowing Beomgyu, he'd flip seeing Jeongin anyway.

  
He half expected to run into some staff when speeding down the hallway, in a hurry to find his friend, but didn't at all expect to almost run into a falling idol, yelping dramatically, hands shot out to reach the first thing he could latch on, that being Jeongin's shoulders.

  
Jeongin yelps as well, startling backwards, almost tripping even, but gives thanks internally to his Hyungs for bringing him out for workouts recently as he's strong enough to able to maintain balance, not letting either of them fall.

  
The guy gripping his shoulders was slightly taller than him, but with how painful he looked to be leaning close to the ground without actually dropping to his knees, Jeongin could tell something was wrong with his balance. His own arms reached around to hold the guy steady, pushing him upwards slowly while he adjusts to his odd position.

  
" _Aish_ , damn.." The guy curses, breathing heavily, shuddering even, as he hops on his right leg while keeping his balance with Jeongin's support. He looks up, and Jeongin recognizes him immediately.

  
"I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that, I-I just-" he whimpers suddenly, face twisting in pain when he put his left leg down, then lifts it back up.

  
"Gah, no, _no_.." He utters painfully.

  
Jeongin ducks his head a little lower, attempting to catch the guy's attention, which is effective when he lowers down his face mask, "What is it, Chenle-ah? Are you okay? Is it your leg? Your ankle?"

  
Almost immediately, Chenle recognizes Jeongin too, and he let's go, backing away- well, _hopping_ away more like, eyes widening in panic. "Ah! Jeongin-ah, I'm so sorry for bumping into you like that! I didn't mean to, honest!" He bows clumsily, a little off balance and nearly toppling over had Jeongin not aided him once again, his arms steadying the younger's shoulders carefully.

  
"I'm okay! Really, I am. I just tripped and-"

  
Jeongin frowns, "Chenle-ah, I'm sorry but that excuse isn't going to work on me. I have seven Hyungs who've taken care of me and seen through my lies. I know you didn't trip. That's a sprained ankle." He points out. With Chenle rendered speechless and still in his hold, Jeongin glances around, spotting an unoccupied break room a few feet away. He thinks for a moment; Chenle can't walk, and if he just left the kid (who was only months younger, mind you, Jeongin) here, he'd feel like an asshole.

  
Beomgyu can wait. He wasn't expecting Jeongin just yet.

  
"Okay, hold on," he inhales, maneuvering his right arm to wrap around Chenle's lower back, while Chenle's left arm goes over his shoulder, and he grips the younger with enough effort to boost him up a little, elevating said sprained ankle.

  
"W-What? Hyung, what are you-"

  
"Shh, let me help." Jeongin assures as he eases Chenle into walking with his support, slowly, but progressing at least.

  
Chenle gulps nervously, "Hyung, please don't tell-"

  
"I won't yet, Chenle-ah, you have my word. But if it's as bad as I think it is, then I don't have a choice, you know that right?" Jeongin's voice is quite stern, but gentle when saying it. Chenle couldn't find the effort to see anything against the elder. He only nodded, and they continued their baby steps into the room.

  
Jeongin sat the younger down on one of the leather couches after entering, setting him down as gently as he could without his leg touching the floor immensely. After, he knelt down in front of Chenle, but his hands twitched when wanting to proceed.

  
He looks up, finding the younger's eyes. "Do you mind if I..?"

  
Chenle shakes his head, but winces, "Carefully, yeah?"

  
Jeongin nods, beginning to sweat a little, "Of course."

  
His attention turns back down to the ankle. And as carefully as he could, he untied the shoelaces of Chenle's left sneaker, which were more secure than he thought. The hard part was getting the sneaker off said leg without causing even a hair of pain to the younger.

  
Jeongin breathes in a bracing breath, feeling guilty already, "This won't be easy, I'm sorry."

  
He grips Chenle's leg, a good distance away from the pained ankle, and his other hand grips the front of the shoe. Slowly, but with measured amounts of force, he slides the thick sneaker off the leg, not without the whimpers and grunts from Chenle in doing so.

  
It felt like hours, but within seconds, the sneaker fell to the floor, and the two of them breathed sighs of relief. Jeongin proceeds to gently roll down Chenle's sock, and roll up his accursed rough dark jeans. That itself took a while not without small apologies and comforting hushes from Jeongin to the younger idol. Damn, if this deep-end feeling of worry is what Chan feels constantly, he has no idea what to do about it after this.

  
Finally, after safely extracting the clothes that could get in the way of checking out the ankle, Jeongin grabs a pillow on the couch, setting it below the pale leg, keeping it comfortable while inspecting the swollen leg. It's colored dark purple, and Jeongin resists the urge to hiss at the redness it bared across the leg. _Aish_ , this kid..

  
"F-" he bites his tongue, composing himself. "Damn it, that's not good at all, Chenle-ah." He comments, prodding at the ankle and turning it over as slowly and gently as he could, not trying to jostle it too much.

  
Chenle recoils, looking scared. The pain must be unbearable. "Are you gonna tell my hyungs?" He asks, looking almost as if he wanted Jeongin to reconsider.

  
Jeongin sighs. "You know I have to, and I know you don't want them to worry, but performing with this is gonna worsen it, which isn't something you want to happen for them to find out. That ankle need medical attention, and at least a few days rest. Not gonna lie, I've probably had worse, but that doesn't make it any better."

  
Chenle sighs deeply, his form drooping slightly, clearly disappointed.

  
Jeongin smiles at him sympathetically, setting the foot down on the pillow gently, then stands up, looking around for anything to ice the swollen spot.

  
He spots a bottle across the room, standing under the air conditioning that seemed to be on for a while. He snatches a neatly folded soft towel from the couch and grabs the bottle, wincing at the coldness it presented, then wrapped it in the thin towel.  
He hands it to Chenle, allowing the younger to ice it himself so he had something to do rather than sulk.

  
"Mind telling me how it happened?" Jeongin asks after Chenle adjusts to the icing, shivering at the added cold.

  
He casts Jeongin a hesitant glance, pursing his lips nervously. "I.. really did trip, but it was during the rehearsal for ' _Ridin_ '. I was careless, and well, stubborn."

  
Jeongin nods, listening tentatively. He understands, and to be frank, if probably far worse than Chenle. He'd probably still perform no matter what, considering the fact that he sees himself as talentless from time to time, but believes he's able to achieve anything with good effort and help, especially from his Hyungs.

  
"Try not to make it a habit, alright? Your unit needs you, and that means you can't overwork with stubbornness, no matter how far it gets you. There's a difference between being stubborn alone and being stubborn with a group." He pats Chenle's head affectionately, finding the move quite surprising to himself even. He always found Chenle to be a higher-up idol, who knew more than Jeongin did, who was confident and so amazingly talented. But right now, when he didn't expect, and honest to god didn't mean to, seeing the vulnerable side of Zhong Chenle, another fellow 01' liner.

  
And he'll promise to keep it to himself if Chenle wants him to.

  
"I should find your Hyungs. I'm sorry about the ankle, Chenle." He offers his sympathy, standing up and stepping away a little, but still eying the younger.

  
Chenle offers a small, comforted smile. "It's okay, it's my fault. Thank you for helping me, Jeongin-Hyung."

  
Jeongin felt a little winded at the title. Being called typically just 'Hyung' is a norm for him from his brother and friends from school, but from other idols? That's new.

  
"It was nothing, Chenle-ah, do me a favor and be more careful so we can run into each other on better circumstances, yeah?" He gives his signature 'angelic' smile, which his Hyungs had dubbed to be used whenever he wanted to make them feel better on any hard day.

  
"Oh righr, here!" He remembers the packet of sweets in his bag, the extra ones he piled earlier were particularly a lot, so he hands about seven of them to Chenle, "Share them with your Hyungs, okay?"

  
Chenle grins at the candies, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Will do."

  
-

  
Jeongin finds Beomgyu later on after guiding the NCT Dream sunbaes to where Chenle rested. He had enough time before their performance, he gifted the five members his surprise.

  
Beomgyu gasps dramatically, taking hold of the flowers on his gifted sweet packet, cooing intensely. " _Aigoo!_ Yeni-ah, you're the _best!_ " He gushes, rushing forward to hug the elder. Jeongin giggles, hugging him back.

  
"Wah, this is so sweet, Jeongin-ah. Thank you so much," Soobin thanks him endearingly after receiving his gift, his bunny-smile making Jeongin almost melt at the sight. It was too cute.

  
"You guys deserve it. I know you're bound to win first place this time around again. Good luck," he tells them, winking.

  
They bow in thanks, smiling widely from his encouragement.

  
Jeongin proceeds to hand Yeonjun his gift, earning a coo once more and another 'thank you'. Then hands one to Huening Kai, who accepts it gratefully, but doesn't say anything afterwards, which he just waves off, then progresses to Taehyun, handing him the last sweet packet that had a particular flower as his gift.

  
Taehyun pauses, eying the flower longly, as if he were caught off guard. "A.. ranunculus?"

  
Jeongin's eyes gleam, and he chuckles softly, "Just take it." He urges him gently, almost fondly.

  
The younger accepts it, pursing his lips to stop himself from smiling too wide. His cheeks were heating up again, but he utters a small, shy, " _Thank you,_ " Before retreating backwards, hiding behind Kai, much to his Hyungs' amusement.

  
Jeongin chuckles again, eyes darting to his right when catching a glimpse of walking figures, finding a limping Chenle being supported by Jaemin and Jeno, slowly making their way to the entrance outside.

  
Chenle spots Jeongin, and he smiles, lifting his supported arm to wave at the older teen, making Jeno beside him confused.

  
Jeongin grins, waving back. Another dongsaeng helped.

  
Wonder who else is next.

**4 - Lee Chaeryeong**

The fourth time it happened.. well, Jeongin couldn't hold back for this.

  
The screaming of the fans, the energy of the crowd, the hype of the artists, the hosts, the music-

  
 _KCON_. One of the top rad places where performances will be sick as hell and can be seen in 1080p 60fps screen transition for fans and idols alike, both internationally or not. There were sophisticated moments where the announcements of awards to groups or idols who definitely deserve it the first time for many, there were the cheeriest moments of greeting other idols whom could be a friend or new friends, there were the cherishing moments of remembering the walk up the stage, greeting and interacting with fans, side by side with the people who walked alongside you for so long--

  
Jeongin- _likes_ KCON. He really does. MAMA could top it, but KCON is a place of memory sometimes. And within memory, there's the happiness of his past; his members joining together up on stage with hard core performances and bomb interactions with the role models of his dreams. But in the memory of his past, with his group, his members.. there's also the hurt from back then.

  
He doesn't want to think about it too much. Not now. Not when he was happily bowing and smiling consistently to the people around him. Not when Chan is back-hugging all his members with so much love like always does, it almost makes him tear up in front of hundreds of fans. And especially not when this is his chance to see Beomgyu and Chenle again, but in the same place, same time and same moment.

  
They were in the back somewhere, not that far but still too far for his liking to greet them. For now, he was content with moving forward, selfie stick in hand, all the while filming his self-camera moment of walking the stage together with his members. He waves, high and low, trying to ensure each Stay present can gather his attention. He loves their smiles, they're almost as bright as his own. And they reach just as wide.

  
"Yeji-ah!" Hyunjin calls over his shoulder, startling the poor woman in front of them, who realizes she'd been interacting with fans for too long before running up to the rest of her group.

  
Stray Kids laugh good-naturedly at her action, moving forward as well, and Jeongin realizes a few steps and glances later that Ryujin and Chaeryeong had stopped at one of the lower stages, not that far from their Unnies, but too close to fans, apparently having a cheerful interaction.

  
He smiles at them from afar, finding the sight quite adoring, but something in the crowd catches his eye.

  
The pool of fans swarming to grab the two girls' attention had been lively, no doubt, and some had their phones out, filming everything, some held up signs of encouragement and or lightsticks and even a screaming match was going on in between. But what tugged Jeongin's tentative attention was one particular large sign that was so poorly designed, it didn't seem efficient enough to be held up. What irked him further was the way the fan held the sign while hiding her face, and it was obvious why, because the large, ugly written in red on the sign that spat, ' ** _Talentless Chaeryeong doesn't belong_** ' is what made his blood boil.

  
Jeongin knew about the mistreatment Chaeryeong often received from fans. He gets them too, but he doesn't give two flying fucks. And neither should Chaeryeong. If the rest of ITZY are loved, why wasn't she? She's been training for years, she has her potential, she matters. He's known her for a long time, just as Ryujin. He's seen what she can do. And the 'fans'.. they just _don't_.

  
Nor do they try.

  
Chaeryeong didn't seem like she noticed the 'fan', but the sign was held so obviously upfront, nobody could miss it. Jeongin glimpses at Ryujin, and knows she had caught sight of it, considering she had stopped smiling, but her attention was focused on the fans below her.

  
Jeongin could tell by then the two of them were just trying to maintain face, and stay as polite as possible to ensure their image was safe by not being bothered to pay any mind to the hate. They hadn't moved forward just yet due to the fans' demanding attention. They were basically trapped.

  
And it looked uncomfortable.

  
Chaeryeong tried to step back, with Ryujin pulling her aside, but the sign holder raised the ugly cardboard mess close to their faces, and Jeongin has had enough.

  
He shoves his selfie-stick to Han, who fumbles with it, startled and confused by Jeongin's harsh move when the younger man stalks forward, away from his group. All of his Hyung's attention goes to him, observing with furrowed eyebrows and frowns.

  
Jeongin masks his anger, managing a sweet smile when he walks up beside Chaeryeong, tapping her shoulder in greeting.

  
Said teen turns to Jeongin in surprise, her smiling facade broken for a moment, but bows in respect and greeting nonetheless, though Ryujin remains still, her expression hardened. The fans around them were screaming at the interaction, and Jeongin finds it quite amusing.

  
He stays by their side just a minute, trying to convey reassurance through his eyes and actions by greeting the Midzys present in front of him, wanting to gather his attention now too.

  
Including the sign holder.

  
She raises the sign high once more, not even thinking of the consequences that Jeongin intends to do to her.

  
He crouches down, making the fans scream louder, and he reaches forward, as if to high five them. The sound of security's footsteps being close by meant he had to take his shot quick.

  
Instead of giving a good-natured high five like everyone thought, he catches a short glimpse of the sign holder, his own orbs glinting with a glare, and he _snatches_ the sign from her hands, standing up quickly to avoid her from grabbing it back.

  
Without thinking, nor even acknowledging the scandalous gasps from all around, even from Chaeryeong, Jeongin _rips_ the sign apart, ever so thankful it was made out of cheap cardboard. The crowd goes silent save for some more gasps, but he remains unbothered; continuously ripping the sign apart until it held no word to provide meaning. Until it was practically in shreds.

  
Until he was _satisfied_.

  
He realizes everyone was witnessing his action, gobsmacked beyond belief, and jaws crashed down to the floor, perhaps heavier than the tension he had created.

  
"J-Jeongin?" Chaeryeong stutters softly, looking utterly floored.

  
Jeongin turns his head at her, smiling softly, and he means it only for her. He didn't care if he had just made a scene. He was doing it for someone who needed to know. And for someone who needed to learn.

  
He flings the shredded sign, not towards the fans, but within the gap between him and owner of the sign, who was too shocked to start hiding or running even.

  
He eyes her with a narrowed, piercing glare that shoots straight through anyone who dared to look. Even if he didn't direct it to them.

  
"You wasted your time making that," is what he says in the silence, surprised he can hear himself echo. He's directing this purely to that one 'fan'. "You're wasting our time showing it," he goes on, lips forming a stone cold frown. Jeongin could feel everyone's gaze on him, in curiosity, perhaps annoyance, perhaps even ignorance.

  
"Everyone, fan or celebrity alike," he raises his voice, making his own group jump. "Drop your ego for a moment and appreciate talent from who you respect. Who you _know_ , deserves to be here today. Who can do better than call out to seek talentless nonsense and spread unnecessary negativity."

  
Yeah, he's pointing fingers. So what.

  
He whips around to Chaeryeong and Ryujin, "Stan the _real_ royals of KCON."

  
And then he _bows_.

  
The idols get caught off guard at that too, eyes widening.

  
The crowd is stunned into sheer silence, but they recover, and understand almost immediately. The Midzys close to them had bowed, joining Jeongin, but the rest had began screaming, hollering, yelling all sorts of thing and overall provided the craziest round of applause for Jeongin. Flashes of lights were seen here and there, fans aggressively clapping and cheering for one man only.

  
And when Jeongin stands, the crowd goes silent once more.

The sign owner was gone, but he didn't give a shit. He turns his head to see Beomgyu and Chenle in the far distance, beckons them over. They seem perplexed, but oblige to his beckoning.

  
"Jeongin.. I-I.. you- that was-" Chaeryeong wants to thank him, he knows by her body language, her trembling voice, her jumbled up thoughts, but he hushes her softly. She eyes him with her big, innocent but determined eyes. He huffs.

  
One final act.

  
And this is _purely_ for his two friends who deserve it.

Jeongin steps in between the girls, a little further backwards, while Chenle and Beomgyu had understood the move. They quickly went into position, standing on either side of the girls as well, much to their confusion, but things soon caught on for everyone when the three boys raise their hands shaping their fingers and hand gestures together to form two crowns meant for the two '01 liner ladies; imitating none other than the iconic _ITZY-end pose_.

  
Queens, indeed.

  
And the audience exploded at that, even the idols behind them were going wild, and suddenly the noise that was in silence had now returned, and Jeongin could breathe again. He could hear his Hyungs congratulating and _gushing_ over him, proud as hell apparently. He could hear Yeji, Lia and Yuna cooing over at Chaeryeong, who had went forward to hug them. He could hear the other idols and groups and bands behind him were clapping, applauding for his action.

  
He felt satisfied, he felt _proud_.

  
Chaeryeong had the biggest smile on her face, and Ryujin held a knowing smirk to her. Jeongin pulls Chenle and Beomgyu into an arm hug, thanking them non-verbally, and they understood, reciprocating.

  
Ryujin suddenly jumps within their hug, her arms hung around Beomgyu and Jeongin's necks, grinning like a madman. Chenle laughs at her, but smirks right after, the glint in their eyes unmatched. Beomgyu is grinning just as widely, all the same for smiles around. It's a wonderful sight to see.

  
And Chaeryeong looked close to tearing up.

  
They held their arms out, letting her come to them, and the group hug is complete to start tearing up for real.

  
She thanks Jeongin nonstop, crying but ever so grateful, and knowing so well she has no clue how to repay him. How to turn a 'thank you' into something more.

  
He shakes his head. And he almost says one thing that would've broken him down.

  
Instead, he hugs her warmly, and says, "You belong in ITZY. And you belong with us too. You'll always belong."


	2. '02 & '03 Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first few times it happened, he didn't let it happen on purpose. But things slowly started falling into place for him. And by then, by this moment, it had led to a purposeful intention.
> 
> He helped them even without realizing it. He gave so much, and giving involves taking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavy chapter ahead. Hope y'all are ready because this one has extreme angst and mentions of some real ass problems we Stays are still experiencing.
> 
> What else is there to expect? Some Taehyun and Jeongin fluff bc i ship them hard for some reason. Its extremely cheesy, hope yall won't puke ehe.
> 
> If the sadness is unbearable, i'm really sorry, but this has to be addressed at some point. This story doesn't hold the actual reason to the real life problem, i originally wrote this to point out something that should be mattered.
> 
> But eh, have fun reading!

Jeongin perhaps realized it, but he chose not to address it directly before. He also chose to indulge himself in this.. this new side of himself. He was happy with how things turned out; his own personal group of friends, the '01 liners of close groups he knows.

  
It was so.. uplifting, to talk to them, to open up sometimes of his little complaints of his life to his friends who definitely understand, showcasing his concerns towards the people younger than him instead it being the other way around, caring for said people because as the eldest, you just gotta, and perhaps even bask in the idea of being a reliable person for once.

  
He doesn't understand why anyone would give this up. No matter how worrying a dongsaeng's situation was, be it in physical trouble or on the verge of a mental breakdown, or even the most ridiculous of problems, as a Hyung, or 'Oppa' (he still disallows Ryujin and Chaeryeong to call him such) or anyone responsible enough to be entitled as the authoritative figure, Jeongin takes it quite seriously. Chan had done his best to care for all of SKZ, and that's when he isn't busy at the studio. The next best person to be dubbed the Mom™ would be Minho, and he doesn't do that bad either, but Felix and Jisung, occasionally roping Hyunjin, still get up to mischief until dawn, it's impossible to handle them.

  
Jeongin doesn't act like a maknae sometimes because he sees the situation his group would get themselves in sometimes and if no one's gonna step up to care for themselves, then he'll do it. Lately, Stray Kids have matured significantly, getting their shit together in such short notice and it made Chan so proud he started tearing up at dinner, which led to the rest of the band crying.

  
Jeongin was one of them, and he was proud as well, to say he doesn't want to rely on his Hyungs so much anymore. He had his own group who wants to rely on him now, too.

  
Beomgyu calls almost every night, whether at the dorm, dance room, or recording studio. He always makes sure to talk to Jeongin even at an ungodly hour, even if the conversation were short. He saw right through Jeongin, and it's an unspoken rule between them to spill out their problems together if they have any. If not, they speak of everything and nothing, like Jeongin would do with Hyunjin and Seungmin at 3am, eating tubs of ice cream Changbin buys every two weeks. He wants to call Beomgyu his best friend, someone he could reach out to even without lifting a finger, but he figured that would be up to Beomgyu, and instead deems himself as someone worthy enough to be this close with him.

  
Chaeryeong and Ryujin were around a lot whenever Jeongin leaves the dorm. After his stunt at KCON, Chaeryeong had been nothing but happy and so, so grateful to Jeongin. They grew close and before anyone knew it, they were attached at the hip.

  
After their personal schedules, they go out together to have lunch or to fetch beverages for their groups. They bicker and bet over the smallest things, and share so many stories it eats up the hours of the day. They dance together to random songs for an activity, create their own choreography for the hell of it, and look up mashups on YouTube to jam to.

  
He's thankful he gets to see them everyday. When the Hyungs aren't around, he can spend his time with them. It's not always a thing, but they give each other beauty tips and share some products if he was staying at their dorm longer than usual. Chaeryeong would put on a random movie and Ryujin suggested they put on face masks, all the while sitting in the living room eating pizza. Yeji walked in, blinked once, then walked out.

  
Hell, the girls even once painted Jeongin's nails matte black and he loved it so much he walked into his dorm and playfully held up his nails similar to that of a cat with a " _rawr_ " in front of Felix and Hyunjin's faces just to show them off. It was nice to do these things, and his members weren't mad, of course, though they'd get jealous he'd been spending too much time out of their sights, it makes them whiny.

  
Chenle is too difficult to reach for late night calls and or newly planned hangouts due to his ankle incident, and since his schedule is sometimes unpredictable, but he always grabs time to go out to see them for a break and they end up at a restaurant close enough for him walk to, eating up a storm, willing to sacrifice long hours just to talk to them. Eventually, he found his rhythm to hang out on weekends with the help of the other NCT sunbaes, and Jeongin is grateful nonetheless for the effort.

  
Chenle helps them with languages at times, the idea struck when he scolded them in Mandarin after fooling around at the park, much to their confusion. And it led to him slowly turning them bilingual, or multilingual, if Jeongin's spontaneous English lessons with Chan were anything to count by. Other times, Chenle would be someone who can listen, after a rough day, a small fight, a little self-doubt.. he's wise for someone younger than all of them if he wasn't a crackhead. And Jeongin doesn't want him to change for anything.

  
He could say he loves them all and he would mean it. He loves Stray Kids, of course. That's a given. But maybe there's a reason why he chose to indulge himself in becoming a social butterfly, finally opening up to make friends with other idols his age. Maybe it was because he was tired of being the only member in his group to still have school and maintain the life of an idol. Maybe it was because he liked caring or others younger than him, even by a day. Maybe it was because of _something_ he hasn't quite pointed out. But it's there.

  
Jeongin loves his dongsaengs, really. It's great to have friends your age, and he never thought of the gravitation it gave him to be more grounded but lifting. They were his support but also his anchor. Same but different experiences from different companies brought up with different minds, and he wants to indulge in being their eldest, someone whom they can lean on if their own groups weren't around, someone whom they could talk to outside of work even, someone who just needed a little something different from their every day lives.

  
Someone who can treat others better than the one who chose to stop.

  
And to be honest, he didn't expect he'd have the chance to gain more than he bargained. But that didn't mean he was just gonna let the chance slip away.

**5 - Park Jisung**

The first dongsaeng Jeongin gets to spend his time with who is _not_ his age was someone he _did_ intend to see. And intended to help since no one else will.

  
"Jisungie, come on, one more go!"

  
Said teen grumbles, irritated beyond anything. As much as he loves Jaemin, this was getting ridiculous.

  
"Hyung, I'm really, really tired. We've been at this for _hourssss_.." He leans forward, letting his body fall into the elder's arms. Jaemin chuckles.

  
"Just one more practice round, come on you baby, Renjun wants to use our time well."

  
Jisung sighs deeply, miserably even. This just won't do.

  
Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin decided to have a practice round of random songs from their albums today since they've been slacking off the last few days over many reasons, one of them still being Zhong Chenle. He was on house arrest still, as much as he protested to be, but after coaxing him with video games and his favorite snacks, he agreed to stay at his home and is to not join him under any circumstances until his healed ankle is _healed_ healed and his muscles are in good condition to practice.

  
( _"Good thing that Jeongin kid told us about his condition, can't believe Lele would hide that." Jisung had overheard Jeno talking to Donghyuck after they took Chenle to get his ankle checked. "I didn't know they were friends."_

  
 _"Chenle never talked about him, but now he won't shut up about his help. I'm guessing they're friends now." Donghyuck had said, shrugging_.)

  
Jisung wondered about that for a while. Chenle's supposed 'mystery friend' wasn't much of a mystery, since they've met the maknae of Stray Kids back at the end of 2019. He was nice, practiced well, had a bright ass smile that could put Jeno's and Jaemin's to shame, and that's about how much Jisung knows on him.

  
Chenle never talked about his friendships with any of the other Stray Kids members besides Felix-Hyung, so hearing about Jeongin-ssi was new. He just- well, it's kind of odd to say, since Chenle just became friends with him out of nowhere.

  
"Jisung-ah, come on," Renjun calls from where he stood, Jeno and Jaemin also ready to dance. "After this were done, I promise."

  
"Yeah right," Jisung couldn't bite back, so, so tired. Irritated. Frustrated. He gets up nonetheless, walking into position. The elder members notice the attitude.

  
"Yah! What's with that tone?" Jeno scolds, tickling the tall maknae's side playfully, "One more, Jisungie, just one more."

  
"Not like you've said that before." Jisung mutters under his breath, meaning it for himself, but Renjun hears it anyway.

  
"Yah, what's up with you?" He pirouettes to the younger, crossing his arms with a stern but concerned gaze, "If you didn't want to join for dance practices why did you come?"

  
Jisung throws his hands up exasperatedly, disbelieved, "What do you mean by _that?_ I didn't even have a choice! You guys brought me here against my will when I haven't even finished my cereal." He retaliates.

  
Jeno and Jaemin had the decency to look guilty. They were the ones who pulled Jisung with them when he was trying to have late breakfast earlier. To be fair, they didn't think about him when they tried to ensure Chenle was satisfied to his whim.

  
Renjun sighs, "Are you hungry? Is that why you don't want to continue this?"

  
Jisung groans loudly, "No! Well, yes! But I'm annoyed at the fact you guys keep doing things against my judgement and don't even let me say anything about it until after we do it. You didn't even wake me up today _again_ , nor made breakfast for me. I'm not jealous Chenle has your attention but at least be more considerate that _I_ exist."

  
And with that, he stomps out of the practice room, too self-indulged in his sulking to listen to his Hyung's calls for him.

  
⁃

  
Okay, things seem a little bit too fast. Why exactly was Jisung here in the first place anyway, and why was it so easy for him to walk out after eight to ten times of practice for almost two hours? Well, for starters, it begins with Chenle's sprained ankle.

  
Which, by the way, is practically healed by now. He showed up for _KCON_ and walked on his own, for god's sake.

  
Jisung's being honest to the bone here. He doesn't blame Chenle, not when he was still being himself around Jisung. He was healing just fine even, he's just been ordered not to walk much yet since he strained and pulled his muscles from practicing the last few weeks from comeback season.

  
And for real, he's _not_ jealous of the attention Chenle has gotten from their Hyungs just because he sprained his ankle and didn't tell them. He has to make it very fucking clear that it's not attention he wants, it's the _consideration_ of his Hyungs that he _needs_.

  
Chenle being ordered on house arrest meant he wasn't to do a single thing, and it would've been easier if he stayed in his house, but Jeno insisted he stayed at the NCT Dream dorm a few times each week just to finish up some work they had meant to do together before he was to be transported to his own house on weekends.

  
Within these last few weeks, Jisung never thought his Hyungs would literally forget about him. They left to Jisung to his own devices, which was swell and all, but when he came back to an unusually quiet dorm with no dinner leftovers for him and everyone asleep the first night, he was confused. And then there were mornings where he woke up so goddamn late, he almost missed his vocal practice sessions, his recording schedules, dance training with some of the other NCT Hyungs- he almost missed _all_ of them thanks to his Hyungs since _nobody_ woke him up. He concluded they had all tended to their own schedules, but used up the rest of their free time to help Chenle with whatever he needed.

  
He hasn't said anything before, since nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but for weeks, more often than not, they keep fucking forgetting he can give his own input, but they keep deciding things without him, against his will. He keeps getting swept away to here and there, new locations even if we wanted to or not. Worst of all, with how they interacted with him earlier, they really didn't give a shit about his input.

  
Hell, they didn't even bat an eye when Chenle declared he was going out to hang with his friends, including the one who helped him when his sprained ankle was still freshly pained. No, instead their Hyungs offered to take him there, offered to help him in any way they can. It's not like Jisung was already helping the younger walk down the stairs or anything.

  
"Aish," He huffs into the cold streets, but having ran not that far trying to disappear away from the SM Ent. Building. He's had enough. He's hungry, he's tired, if none of his Hyungs were gonna be considerate of his needs, he'll deal with them on his own.

  
Now, he may be a tall person, perhaps a little bit too tall for someone young, but he honest to god didn't see the person he ran into. It was an honest mistake, he was tired, he was deprived of food, and perhaps deprived of proper care, so no one can blame him.

  
Said person didn't even look mad at him, he flashed Jisung a concerned look that made Jisung think, ' _well at least someone gives a crap_.'

  
"Are you alright there, Jisung? Sorry, I meant to stop you."

  
Jisung freezes, completely thrown over at the words.

  
What the fuck?

  
He jumps, backing away from the stranger, who, he realizes seconds later, isn't in fact a stranger. The guy dressed snug and perfectly in disguise was the same person whom Jisung had deemed Chenle's savior for the ankle incident. I.N, or Jeongin, was it?

  
Oh, how the world wanted him to keep thinking about his mistreatment.

  
The guy, I.N, chuckles, and Jisung notes the toothy, wide smile that could either be endearing or intimidating. "Sorry, again. You're Park Jisung, right? Chenle's best friend and NCT Dream's golden boy dancer?"

  
He makes a face at the name. Since when?

  
I.N chuckles again, "Chenle says so. I'm Yang Jeongin, you can call me Hyung if you'd like." He offers a hand, smiling a softer smile, which is effective in getting Jisung to calm down a little from his.. tense form.

  
He silently takes the hand, shaking it and firmly, nodding cautiously.

  
Jeongin's smile doesn't fade. "So, whatcha doing out here? Grabbing brunch? I heard you haven't had a full breakfast. Wanna join me? I know a nearby ramen place we could head to."

  
Jisung has no idea what this guy was playing at but clearly he was in over his head for thinking someone like Park Jisung was just gonna agree to go have a meal with him.

  
As if sensing the suspicion, Jeongin backs away, hands held up, as if he were caught red-handed. He offers a sympathetic smile, "Right, sorry. Listen," he fishes out his phone, tapping into it, "I'm no stalker, obviously. Or a creeper. I'm just here to see and make sure that you'll make it though the day."

  
Jisung scoffs, choosing now to talk to him, "If you're looking for Chenle, he isn't here. He's at-"

  
"-his house. I know. I'm here to see you, actually."

  
A pause.

  
Jeongin shows him his phone, a conversation within a chat called 'GenZero One' had a short message from Chenle in it.

**GenZ ero One**

  
[9:23am]

  
 **LeleChen** : anyone up, I need yalls help

  
 **JinRyulty** : not it

  
 **GyuBear** : also not it

  
 **YeongCherry** : what is it Le?

  
 **LeleChen** : thank you Cher dear

  
 **LeleChen** : my hyungs have already sent me to my house so i can't do anything from here but

  
 **LeleChen** : i have a feeling Jisungie is irritated asf today unlike other days and I kno the reason(s) why but som1 who is not me should check on him bc one of those reason(s) involves our hyungs

  
 **IN &OUT**: must be serious if there were reason(s)

  
 **GyuBear** : Jisungie? As in cute but hella tall park jisungie? what has happened I will fite that sumn

  
 **LeleChen** : u'd hav to fite 4 hyungs and the other 15 of them if were gonna be more accurate

  
 **GyuBear** : challenge accepted

  
 **YeongCherry** : Gyu, no

  
 **YeongCherry** : I'd help but Ryujin and I have schedules today until afternoon :(

  
 **JinRyulty** : sorry lele

  
 **GyuBear** : and I have a host show to attend again, comeback season was over a month ago ffs

  
 **IN &OUT**: my time has come

  
"Chenle explained to me you were being neglected, not in his words, but in my opinion that's how it's going." Jeongin's tucks the phone away, moving himself to stand beside Jisung, not caring his height reached around the younger's neck. He flashed Jisung another smile, and he finds himself being comforted at the sight.

  
"So we're gonna go out to eat. My treat."

  
⁃

  
"..then Jeno-Hyung just drags me out, I didn't even finish my goddamn breakfast or say goodbye to Lele. My poor bowl of cereal just sitting there on the table, abandoned, uneaten. My poor best friend, just sitting there knowing his best friend misses him and never got to say his last words of the day.."

  
Jisung didn't think the fallout of his day would lead him here, at a perfectly obscured ramen booth, two bowls of ramen finished earlier, one on the way of being made and spilling out the entire story of his problems to someone Chenle had deemed as trustworthy and apparently a great listener.

  
"They just- it's so annoying that they keep forgetting nowada- Aish, it's probably always been like this now that I think about it- that I should have a say and have the right to say in what I need and want to do. They don't give me that choice, neither do they give a shit about it for me."

  
Jeongin finishes slurping the last remnants of the soup in his ramen bowl, setting it down calmly. "I guess that is something to get mad about. I mean why would they just leave you like that? They've been with you for years. Longer than me with my Hyungs."

  
Jisung shrugs, looking down, "I don't know, Hyung. I'm just-" he sighs, deeply in fatigue, "I'm so tired."

  
Silence fills the booth, the owner somewhere at the back while Jisung and Jeongin were talking nonstop. The older looked at Jisung with a look of understanding; he, too, had experienced being neglected and or fasted aside at some point. Sometimes Chan was just too busy to bother, and Minho, Changbin, they had their own lives to attend to. Jisung was always busy at the studio just as much as their leader, and the only people who are able to provide or want entertainment with Jeongin are Felix, Hyunjin and Seungmin, who, also happen to sometimes just be away from the dorm at times.

  
He was the youngest, so he had to be 'protected' back then. That meant he was not to go out alone without his Hyungs or staff. It was unbearable, but now that he was considered an adult, and able to go out on his own like this, especially when needing to help a dongsaeng's dongsaeng, he's totally hyped for it.

  
"I guess I realized I was being a bit too bratty. Worse actually. Damn, I never acted out like this, Hyung." Jisung says, cutting through the silence. He rubs his face with his hands, sighing. "I just- I don't know how to explain it, Hyung. I really wasn't jealous, I didn't care Chenle was getting the attention he needs, but completely disregarding me is just-"

  
"Hey, don't justify your actions as if it were your fault. You're acting this way because of what your Hyungs have been doing. They should realize their mistakes. It's their jobs as Hyungs to care for their dongsaengs, no matter what." Jeongin goes on, looking determined to get his point across. "We're maknaes, Jisung-ah. As maknaes, we stick together, but as someone older than you, I'm also obligated as your Hyung to look after you. Lele was worried, that's why he asked us to find you. He really knows you well."

  
Jisung smiles a little, "He annoys me but keeps me company more than the rest of my Hyungs, and I'm also his favorite dongsaeng, that's why."

  
Jeongin rolls his eyes, "You're his _only_ dongsaeng." He retorts, "My Hyung, Seungmin-Hyung, feels the same way about me. I'm _his_ only dongsaeng, so he bothers me a lot but that's because he's always wanted a younger sibling, and so he's protective of me. It's always like that. Worrying over someone younger than you because you feel so.. protective of their life,"

  
Jisung watches and listens as Jeongin looks more passionate as he talks, "We're capable of taking care of ourselves, but.. Hyungs affections is always welcomed too.. and.. I always got that, from all of my Hyungs. Now, I can provide it too. To you," he gives the younger an affectionate smile, "and Chenle.. my other friends, my younger brother, of course.. I get baffled at people who would leave that behind f-"

  
He stops, clearing his throat, making Jisung frown. Jeongin quickly speaks, "-as a band of brothers, were allowed to complain or get attached, y'know? Being a family and all. If one of them isn't doing something right to you, then yes, you totally have the right to complain. Talk to them, _make_ them listen. Don't let them take away your choices. You have your other Hyungs to talk to, you have Chenle too. Maknaes are humans. You have to make a move for yourself."

  
Jisung lets the words sink in, staring at his newly placed ramen bowl blankly. Jeongin made a point.. he always thought being a bratty maknae would be cringey and all, but today he just felt like he needed to make his Hyungs understand if his average mature self wasn't progressing well on it. Jeongin understood, it was a miracle. Normally, Chenle would be the one brave enough to berate their Hyungs if they did something Jisung didn't like, but Chenle couldn't have a say in what was happening either.

  
So he sent Jeongin. Who experienced this as well?

  
Maknae to maknae, he supposes.

  
"..thank you, Hyung. You're right. But.. what do I do from here?" His voice is quiet, uncertain. Now that he's sure of his feelings and conflicts towards the problem, he has no clue how to approach them. There's the uncertain feeling if he ever got his point across to them even with him screaming it at their faces. Should he go back? He should. Or not. He's still tired, and the ramen has been so good, and Jeongin has been great company.

  
"My advise is to go back to them when you've cooled down enough. Are you still pissed?"

  
Pissed? Well, yeah. "I'm not leaving until this ramen is finished." Jisung answers honestly, making Jeongin laugh.

  
"Then let's keep eating."

  
It's until further later in the afternoon when Jeongin takes him back to the SM Ent. Building, standing far from it so neither Jisung nor Jeongin will catch attention. The taller of the two turns to face the SKZ member, looking nervous. "I just hope they don't get the wrong idea. I'm really trying-"

  
Jeongin puts a hand on his shoulder, giving a comfort smile that magically eases his worried, "You hold some form of power in your title as maknae. Like I said, make them listen. You'll be fine." He advises, his eyes staring directly into Jisung's, as if sending his vote of confidence through there.

  
Jisung nods continuously, rubbing his hands together, inhaling, "Okay, okay." He chants, muttering it over and over, but remains unmoving. Jeongin snorts.

  
"Come here," he orders instead, his arms spreading open, an invitation.

  
Jisung hesitates. "Uh, I know you've been the kindest Hyung I've talked to so far today but isn't this a little forw-"

  
A surrounding warmth slots itself around Jisung's tall figure, silencing him. Jeongin's arms were long enough to wrap itself double time around Jisung's thin waist but he settles with a comforting squeeze. His head was placed on Jisung's shoulder, and the younger found how full and so _nice_ it was to be in his hold. Jeongin held him with such security, and protectiveness, and gentleness mixed into it.. he gives in, and wiggles his own long ass arms to wrap around the elder's shoulders, leaning his head on the fluffy hair tickling his cheek and neck.

  
"Thank you so much, Hyung," he breathes out, content in the comforting warmth Jeongin radiated so much of. "I can see why Chenle-Hyung likes you."

  
Jeongin chuckles when they pull apart, smiling cheerily at the taller teen, "And I like you too. You're one hell of a dongsaeng. You should join our hangouts next time."

  
Jisung, after the heavy ass day, finally feels himself smile widely than the small or brief ones earlier. "Maybe I will." He considers the idea; it sounds better than getting bossed around.

  
When the two turn away from each other, Jisung faces the building once more, exhaling a breath. Jeongin pats his shoulder encouragingly, and suddenly he's missing Jeongin's comfy and really warm hug, "Well, go get 'em."

  
⁃

  
"Wait, he _hugged_ you?"

  
Jisung looks up from his phone, his conversation with Jeongin about whether their next meeting should be him paying or the older now paused. Chenle is looking at him with a raised eyebrow, looking perplexed at the story Jisung was telling him of yesterday.

  
Jaemin was in the room, with Donghyuck as his victim of a cuddle buddy. They also paused their movements, curious to Chenle's reaction. They'd resolved everything just yesterday, true to Jeongin's word of his Hyungs realizing their mistakes, and begging for Jisung to forgive them. The younger was honestly not expecting it to be that easy.

  
"..Yeah?" Jisung says, recalling the pleasant feeling of being hugged when he doesn't even like skinship, "His hug was really nice. I could've melted or something. He hugs better than Jaemin-Hyung,"

  
Jaemin gasps, startling Donghyuck, "You take that back!"

  
Chenle waddles over and sits next to Jisung, looking confused, but shrugs. Jisung faces him with the same expression, "What's wrong, Le?"

  
"Nah, it's just that he doesn't always initiate hugs. He doesn't do much skinship, but I guess he's starting to," Chenle explains, yanking his phone out, going right into social media.

  
Jisung looks mildly surprised; Jeongin seemed like an open person who was naturally affectionate and he didn't like skinship? That hug was out of this _world_.

  
Chenle hums, leaning back, "If you liked his hug that much, you're gonna have to realize sooner or later it's gonna be one of the rarest things to get."

**6 - Kang Taehyun**

This opportunity to help and gain another close dongsaeng not his age was honestly not something he saw coming at all, but he wasn't complaining. In fact, he doesn't exactly see Taehyun as a little brother.

  
If the clues weren't obvious in his previous encounters, he finds Taehyun quite attractive. It's not just his face, because Lord, that boy has killer looks, but dear god, his talent for singing is just as heavenly. Jeongin also admires Taehyun's professionalism when they meet at events or greet each other in the hallways for an exchange, but he also admires the little things he does when they're together on longer periods of band clashes.

  
For example, the stealing of glances when they weren't that far apart, the lingering touch of hand holds when they have handshakes, the soft smile in return when Jeongin throws his own at his way, and the little, " _Hwaiting, Hyung!_ " When their groups were cheering on for each other. It sounds cheesy, but he really cherishes the little things more than he should.

  
He doesn't see Taehyun as often as Beomgyu. Before this, he doesn't see him at all, and only admires from afar. Now, however, with the occasional ( _"Mandatory!" Gyu would add)_ hangouts and visits, Jeongin sees Taehyun a lot more, and it makes him smile knowing they were getting quite comfortable with each other. He was quirky, mature, gentle and understanding, Jeongin had come to learn in the last few weeks.

  
And he likes that he can get closer. Get to know him better. He wants to. It was addicting, to say the most? He doesn't know. Taehyun is just..

  
He's just.. Taehyun. And Jeongin likes Taehyun.

  
Maybe too much.

  
"Are you _sure_ you're at the practice room this time? I don't wanna get ushered by security again for trespassing even though I wasn't-" Jeongin's breath forms huffs of clouds as he walks in the cold, intent on making it down the sidewalk to his destination as he talks quite loudly on the phone, thankful there isn't much people around to hear him.

  
"- _that was_ one time _and I forgot to tell them, okay? Besides, you can't blame me you were gonna visit on short notice_." Beomgyu remarks, his voice a little staticky from the other line.

  
Jeongin makes a face, "You just admitted you forgot to tell them, you're responsible for last time and this time if things don't turn out well for me."

  
Beomgyu scoffs on the other line, " _Lucky for you, I already told security and the staff. See you try to sue me for being a good friend this time_." Jeongin could feel the smug smirk on the other side.

  
"That would just bode well for me, you know. I can enter and leave any time I please, it's perfect for future pranks, or master plans to mess up your studio."

  
A scandalous gasp was heard, " _You wouldn't! Yoongi-Hyung would never let you. He'd catch perpetrators on the spot if you tried! There's proof Kookie-Hyung tried before and it didn't end well for him either_ ,"

  
Jeongin snorts, "Maybe I'll get Taehyun to help me, he's nice, and sneaky. I can get him to turn against you."

  
Another scandalous gasp, " _You monster! My best friend with my best friend?! I'll never live to see through another day!_ " Jeongin bursts out laughing, but his attention stays at the label Beomgyu had said.

  
"'Best friend', huh? I've earned that title, you're not allowed to take it back."

  
" _Don't be silly_ ," Beomgyu tsks, soft, " _You've always earned it_."

  
Jeongin stops walking, his figure standing in front of the street, waiting for the green light for him to walk. "I did?" He asks, winded. "Didn't think I'd get this far."

  
" _As long as you see me as your best friend too, I don't actually mind you hanging around Taehyun whether to plot against me or to stare at each other like lovesick idiots. Just promise me you won't corrupt him but cherish him and all that jazz_."

  
Jeongin stops functioning altogether, his stomach dropping.

  
"..what?"

  
Beomgyu snorts, " _Yen, I see what you've been doing. I'm kinda grateful we aren't animals or else you and him would be having some sort of mate-_ "

  
"What do you mean 'what I've been doing'? What _have_ I been doing?" Jeongin had to run across the road when he realized the green was on but he was a minute late. His heart was beating a little faster than he would like it to.

  
A pause is present within their conversation, ".. _um, I just assumed it became a thing that you started pining over my dongsaeng?_ "

  
Jeongin gapes at that. " _W-What?_ Where on earth did you get that idea-"

  
" _I mean! Well, you and Taehyun have these goo goo eyes all over each other whenever we meet up or bump into one another. It was pretty obvious, not to me at first. Ryujin noticed it, then Lele, then me and Chaer. But like, I'm okay with it, have you guys even made a move?_ "

  
With that, Jeongin's silence was the rest of the conversation as he was nearing the Big Hit Ent. building. His racing heart hasn't stopped beating against his chest, and he felt his legs slow down gradually, feeling heavier by the second.

  
Was he nervous all of a sudden? Yes.

  
Did he expect such a conversation? No. And that's why he was nervous.

  
".. _Yen? Did I make you upset by bringing this up? Did you.. not plan on telling anyone? Oh my god, I'm so sorry-_ "

  
Beomgyu's voice echoes behind him, even with it against his ear. He liked Taehyun, yeah. But.. was that something to be worried about? Did Beomgyu mean it when he said the both of them were in on this towards each other?

  
Was Taehyun okay with it?

  
".. _where are you? Are you even on the phone? Are you here yet? Shit, are you turning away? Yang Jeongin, answer me!_ "

  
Well, he was standing in front of the building already, if he turned away now, it would seem like a dick move. He hasn't even hung up on Beomgyu yet, and he doesn't want to worry the younger. That's another potential dick move.

  
Before he enters the building, however, he hears rustling from the other line, and the call ends. Well, so much for that. But then, there's heavy footsteps coming from within the building. The staff, managers and employees Jeongin sees inside were staring at a particular hallway, and the footsteps become louder as it heads towards the entrance. Seconds later, he can see someone speeding through the glass, making out the figure to be Beomgyu, running full speed then skidding to a stop when he sees Jeongin standing outside.

  
"Yeni!" He gasps out, catching his breath. Without a word, he yanks Jeongin inside, throwing his arms around the elder's shorter body tightly. "I'm sorry! Why were you so quiet? Was it something I said? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!"

  
Jeongin catches the sight of the staff eying them with concern, and the security keeping an eye out as if on guard, but he sees rest of TXT walking towards themselves too, inevitably locking eyes with Taehyun.

  
He feels himself relax but tense at the same time, but forces himself to compose to return the hug Beomgyu had trapped him in.

  
"I'm not mad, or offended, don't worry Gyu. I was just.." He pauses, trying not to look at Taehyun again. "..um, caught.. off-guard.. that's all. I didn't expect that convo."

  
Beomgyu releases him, huffing, "Yah! You should've told me to stop if you weren't ready to talk about it. I would've understood."

  
' _Yeah, you would've_ ,' Jeongin retorts internally, but he unfortunately catches eyes with Taehyun again, ' _but I wouldn't_.'

  
Soobin steps forward, tugging the both of them, "Come on, boys, let's not talk about this here." He ushers the two of them and the rest of his group deeper within the building.

  
The two '01 liners exchange eye contact, and they don't talk about the subject from then on.

  
⁃

  
Jeongin finds himself hours later in the practice room, having allowed access since he visits often now. The rest of TXT were in the area, having done with dance practice for the day and just lazing around. Yeonjun had left to get some food, while Soobin had a vocal lesson in a few minutes and is currently spooning Kai on the floor in a heap of their jackets as their cushions to pass the time, and Taehyun was on his phone near the speakers, scrolling through some songs.

  
Beomgyu and Jeongin were in the corners of the room, lounging around, having a short argument on whether mint chocolate chip ice cream is worthy or not, with opposite ends still heated.

  
"I'm telling you, Gyu, it's pretty damn good!"

  
"And I'm tell you it's not, how can you withstand that strong ass sting in your mouth? The chocolate chips don't do the mint any justice at all!"

  
Taehyun looks up from his phone after choosing '100 Ways' by Jackson Wang as the next background music. He notices Soobin had left, and Hyuka was curled up on the floor, pillowed and tucked by the jackets of which he assumed Soobin had cocooned him into. He spots Jeongin and Beomgyu, their argument quite loud but playful.

  
The two of them were quiet when Jeongin first arrived hours ago, opposite of now. The commotion that happened was beyond Taehyun, but he wished to find out why. Jeongin looked bothered, and it affected his conversations with Taehyun whenever they talked.

  
Usually the two of them would talk freely, comfortably even, about anything at all, and Taehyun would throw in a small bold flirt at some point, but he doubted it was noticeable. Jeongin was charming when he wanted to be, and his smile is too irresistible to keep hold for a challenge. He could melt at the sight, and that's why he's shy around him.

  
It was obvious he liked the older. It surprised himself really. He knew he liked him, but he didn't _think_ he would. Jeongin has been around a lot lately, and has helped out whenever they needed him, and that goes the same for other idols on account of KCON weeks ago. Jeongin's action had shocked everyone, before Taehyun knew it, he was a goner.

  
It feels kinda weird, though. Having a crush on someone who's technically your brother's best friend, in a way? He doesn't feel ashamed of the idea nor would be ashamed to hide it from his members since it was literally obvious, but he still felt shy and quite fearful. Would Jeongin think any different? Would it affect their friendship and whatever was going on between them? He wouldn't know. Fear of the unknown and all.

  
Either way, he walked towards the duo, trying not to look interested in their conversation ( _because let's be real, mint chocolate chip is a flavor created from the underworld_ ) but he can't bring himself to with Jeongin pouting like that every time Beomgyu reasons why it is.

  
"I personally don't understand how you like it, Hyung," Taehyun says when he plops down beside Beomgyu, because no way in hell are he and Jeongin close enough to initiate skinship, if the older even likes it. "Like Namjoon-Hyung says, it tastes like toothpaste."

  
Jeongin scoffs, crossing his arms, "Perhaps I like the idea of my breath smelling like mint from a dessert. Makes my image look good."

  
Beomgyu and Taehyun burst out laughing, somehow not waking up Kai. "That sounds _so_ romantic. Boyfriend material shit, Yen." Beomgyu comments, wiping a nonexistent tear.

  
Unknown to him, both Taehyun and Jeongin freeze visibly, with Taehyun laughing a little stiffly now. "How so, Hyung?" He asks instead, then mentally slaps himself for digging up another hole he wished he could hop in right now.

  
"Well," Beomgyu smirks, much to the duo's horror, "Trying to maintain good breath basically sounds like he's trying to look good for a kiss."

  
Jeongin swallows. Taehyun glances elsewhere.

  
"I find that kinda cute. A gentleman and all, right, Taehyunnie?"

  
"Uh.." Said teen utters, eyes widening just a little more, "Yeah.. it is."

  
They catch eyes once again, and it always strums a heartstring within Taehyun. Jeongin takes a second, holding their gaze until he manages to send a steady, but comforting smile, the stretch of his eyes along with the smile becoming a melting sight with his dimples appearing and his irises disappearing within the fox eyes.

  
Fuck.

  
They don't even notice Beomgyu leaving when Yeonjun calls for him. Not even batting an eye at his wave and pats on their knees. Taehyun swallows a gulp, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

  
"So, um, Hyung," he blinks, shaking his head out of his reverie, apparently snapping Jeongin out of his too, "I wanted to ask about your thoughts on our comeback weeks ago. I know it's late, but what's your actual favorite song? And or, least favorite?"

  
Jeongin looks as if he didn't expect that, but masks his expression quickly, "Are you kidding? I couldn't even _hate_ the songs, let alone dislike them. They're all still stuck in my head, Hyun! I have 'Drama' on repeat for days on end, I'm sure Hannie-Hyung has gotten annoyed by me entering our room booming with it every time. The entire album is bomb, I'm being as honest I can be here. It's too addicting."

  
He goes on and on, gushing over the little aspects of the songs and even the music videos of each song, sharing his favorite moments and the ones that caught him off-guard ( _"If Gyu didn't leave the goddamn blender open in the comeback MV I'm sure the strawberry splatters wouldn't have freaked me out as much. That still haunts me."_ )

  
Taehyun listens, his features contorting to focused relaxation in hearing the elder's voice just talk and talk, coo and compliment whatever opinionated in their album. He was just interested and totally content in letting him talk, it was attractive anyway.

  
"..your voice too, like god, Taehyun, you're a national treasure. Hearing you sing is so, so pleasant, absolutely soothing.."

  
Taehyun snaps his eyes open wide at that, not even realizing he'd closed them. He glances over to see Jeongin looking at him with a fond expression, making the younger's heart skip a beat. ( _And the fact that he just called Taehyun a national treasure like holy shit, Hyuka would call this a "gay panic", like whenever either of them ran into their favorite idol or are talking about them like the fanboys they are. Case in point, Yeonjun and Soobin towards BTS_.)

  
"..my voice?" He squeaks finally, a little pathetically in his opinion. Honestly, he'll take what he can get at this moment.

  
Jeongin chuckles, then nods, "I admire your singing. I don't wish to have your voice but I wish I was more confident for mine."

  
Taehyun gapes, spluttering, "Hyung, you have a _unique_ voice! I just practiced a lot, it's nothing more special than that."

  
Unconsciously, Jeongin scoots closer, sitting cross-legged, looking quite stern, "Now, now. I practiced hard too. There's a literal difference between perfecting your voice and having natural talent to singing. You have that talent, Taehyun. Besides," there's a glint in the elder's foxy eyes, "your confidence is what brings you higher. You're brave enough to let it out, and that's what's admirable about you."

  
If the floor could open up, Taehyun could melt right through at this moment.

  
He feels a surge of confidence after uttering a small, "Thank you," smiling until his cheeks hurt a little, glancing up at the elder. "You're.. admirable too, Hyung."

  
Jeongin tilts his head sideways a little, curious and Taehyun resists the urge to coo, "How so?" ( _'Aish he repeated me', Taehyun thought with adoration_.)

  
The younger scoots closer too, until the corner beside them is unseen, and they're so, so close, knees touching, fingers twitching to touch.

  
"Well, for one, that thing you did at KCON weeks ago was impressive." Jeongin chuckles, shaking his head embarrassingly at the memory. "You stood up to someone who was hating on Chaeryeong-Noona, no one even thought about it twice than you. You're so kind, and brave too, that's admirable,"

  
The smile Jeongin holds is unmatched, and he gets all shy, beaming downwards.

  
Taehyun decides it's a perfect moment to express more, "Another thing is- it was _you_ .. who.. helped me gain my confidence." He admits, leaning his head back against the wall, "I mean- well, my confidence level is pretty high according to my members and MOAs, within reason I suppose, but you saw how I was whenever we interacted, ya know? I was shy, and barely uttered more than five words to you. So.. over the weeks, months even, you helped me grow confident to speaking to you. You're really kind, and funny, and easy-going, and.." He trails off, his mind going mush all of a sudden.

  
Jeongin exhales, his smile still fresh as he pats Taehyun's leg, and the younger sees his rosy cheeks, "Come on, Hyun, that's just us progressing our friendship. I'm glad you feel that way, though."

  
"What?" Taehyun voices, confused, "Hyung, that's not it-"

  
"You became confident in our friendship not because of me, Hyun. It's our bond. We've gotten closer, and just grew comfortable with each other. That's why I said your confidence is admirable, it's all from you." Jeongin explains, grinning, looking as if not even having the slightest bit of clue of what Taehyun was saying.

  
He was left gaping for a second. "You.. don't understand me."

  
Jeongin's attention turns back to him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"

  
The younger swallows again, wetting his dry lips nervously. "I- it's not.. I don't-"

  
"Hyun? What? What is it?"

  
"I-" Should he? Should he not? He shouldn't be afraid. He doesn't have to be afraid. He can be brave, confident. He can.

  
Whew, he can do it.

  
Well, it's now or never.

  
"Taehyun-"

  
"Yeni-Hyung, I have- a crush.. on you."

  
And with that, Taehyun's brain malfunctioned from there. While Jeongin seems to have short-circuited.

  
Well, can't go back now.

  
"You.. uh, you say I'm brave, you described me as someone who has confidence and- I believe you, Hyung. In fact, maybe I have too much confidence that got me far, singing helps me get confident, but- but like, I was- I was shy around you for months! And that's because I had a crush on you!"

  
Man, this was hard. And awkward. Save him.

  
"You were being- you were being you, an admirable person who gave us gifts and spent your time with us whenever you can and.. "

  
The conversation shifted from how he sounded softer and softer by the second.

  
"..and.. _because_ you were admirable I.. didn't have the guts to talk to you. Even after Beomgyu-Hyung brought you around the dorm, and you started hanging out with us and I just.. I didn't think I could handle being close to you. But _then_ you- you had me talking, and before I knew it, we got comfortable with each other and well I just- I guess I was in too deep."

  
His heartbeat was beating against his chest so goddamn loud, it's probably visible with how restless he looked underneath Jeongin's gaze. But letting all of this out.. God, it felt weight-lifting.

  
Inhaling a steady, composed breath with his eyes shut, he looks up, for once wanting to lock eyes with Jeongin, who's cheeks were tainted red all the way to his ears, but his eyes were unreadable as was his expression. Taehyun still found it attractive as hell.

  
"I like you, Hyung. I.. have no idea what to do about it. It seemed pretty obvious, but my Hyungs and Hyuka.. they say just go for it with my own way and I don't know _how_ -" He trails off again, biting his tongue, thinking.

  
The music coming from his phone had apparently shuffled to their comeback song and wow did things just get cheesier than he wanted.

  
' _Singing helps me get confident_ ' his goddamn ass, but internally says fuck it.

  
".. _can't you see me?_ " internally, again, he's cringing, " _like on **this** magical day, say "believe me"_.."

  
Jeongin just stares. His heart leapt to his throat, cutting off any words he meant to say. But God, Taehyun was singing and he's having another gay panic.

  
" _my heart incinerated, come and feel me.. feel me_.."

  
Fuck. He was in too deep too.

  
" _Oh, can't you see me?_ "

  
"I see you."

  
⁃

  
Huening Kai wakes up to a quiet practice room, making him confused.

  
He sits up with some struggle, trapped in a cocoon for some reason, probably curtesy of Soobin.

  
Shrugging off the jackets, Kai rubs his eyes tiredly with a long yawn. He reaches for his phone, checking the time to be 4pm, meaning he napped for two hours. Glancing around with little effort, he tried to at least spot someone nearby. Neither Yeonjun-Hyung nor Beomgyu-Hyung were in the room, much to his further confusion, as he knew Soobin-Hyung wouldn't be here until later tonight.

  
But something catches his eye in the corner of the room, and he makes out two figures leaning against each other within said corner, curled up and snuggled, sleeping soundly, one thick jacket enough to cover their warmth.

  
Kai makes a face. Had Jeongin been here that long? Why hasn't he left yet?

  
Judging by the close proximity he was cuddling with Taehyun, it's safe to say the two of them finally got their shit together. Damn, that took forever. Thank god he missed it, that would be like seeing your sibling get a girlfriend or boyfriend and just witnessing everything you don't want to.

  
His eyes linger on Jeongin's figure a little bit longer, finding the content sleeping face of his not at all that reassuring to his growing suspicion.

  
Just what is he up to?

**7 - Shin Yuna**

Jeongin's next dongsaeng was already his dongsaeng, and in this case, she figured things out about him.

  
Yuna was nervous, to say the very least if she could find another adjective at the moment.

  
And she has good reason to be, Ryujin had announced she and Chaeryeong were going to have their monthly ( _"Wish it was weekly," she whined once_ ) hangouts with their '01 liner friends again. They planned to spend the day together as it's actually been longer than usual since they've seen each other. Their Unnies were okay with it, of course, as they had already told their managers beforehand with the help of Jeongin. In fact, Yuna was happy for them to chill out too after hectic weeks of working on some stuff.

  
The problem here is, Yuna was actually invited to go along with them, curtesy of said male teen under the same company. She wasn't at all prepared for it when Chaeryeong told her.

  
"But.. I feel so out of place, Unnie, I can't handle being in the same place with all of you being the same age while I'm so far apart." She tries reasoning and it sounds kinda pathetic, she knows.

  
Chaeryeong waves her off, buttoning up her denim jacket, "Yuna, age doesn't matter at this point, you know. You have the height and maturity level higher than Beomgyu," Yuna doesn't even look at least comforted by that remark, her inner turmoil now showing upfront at feeling and looking more superior than someone like _Choi Beomgyu_.

  
Chaeryeong spares her a sympathetic smile, "But if you're so uncertain, Yeni ordered us to invite our dongsaengs, which means Gyu will be bringing Taehyun and Huening Kai, and Chenle is bringing NCT's maknae, Park Jisung. You'll have plenty of people close to your age."

  
Yuna still looks despaired, perhaps even more, "Unnie, I _can't_ go! Tomorrow by Together members mixed with NCT? That's like a powerhouse! I can't handle that!" She grabs her head in her hands, panicked.

  
"And none of them are even my age, if we're counting with months, it's not even close." Huening Kai was born on August, right? God, Yuna was hella far in December 2003. What would they do if they knew? They'd probably tease her relentlessly, or ignore her. She's not good with this. She wouldn't even be good with this with other Unnies, now she'll be meeting Oppas? _Lord_.

  
Ryujin walks in, already dressed fabulously for casual attire and some cool sunglasses that fits the look, her poker face directed to Yuna's grey bubble. She sighs in amusement, "If anything, this gives all of us a chance to be friends without mattering on age or gender. Give it a try, Yuna. I heard Taehyun is a sweetheart and a little bit too shy, you guys might get a long if you tried."

  
Chaeryeong fixes her hair, smirking, "Not if Yen doesn't take him away first."

  
Ryujin thinks for a moment then nods solemnly, "True. They've finally stopped dancing alone and started dancing together."

  
Yuna looks back and forth between the two, utterly confused at the interaction and topic. "What?"

  
Her two Unnies glanced at each other, then bark out a laugh together. They shake their heads, "You'll know it when you see it, Yuna. Now, go get ready. Jeongin will be here to pick us up soon, in like," Chaeryeong pauses, checking her watch, ".. twenty minutes."

  
Yuna leaps up off the bed in a panic, "What?! Oh my god, you guys are the worst! That's too soon!" She runs out of the room, scurrying past a walking Lia carrying the laundry, receiving an indignant, " _Watch it!_ "

  
Ryujin shakes her head with the same amusement, "I do wonder how later will go for her."

  
⁃

  
After the arrival of Jeongin, the four of them had set off to a cafe Beomgyu had chosen. They went on foot since it seemed more efficient that way, and occasionally they stopped for different places since the time of meeting was around 11am and they were half an hour earlier.

  
Yuna had tried her best to calm her nerves as low as she could. It just wasn't exactly her forte to meet other top notch idols so quickly, on days she didn't even ask to see them. Man, she really can't seem to find other idols her age that often.

  
In front of her, she eyes Chaeryeong and Jeongin walking side by side, pointing at some stores they've been to and talking about it with witty comments and facts, and it makes Yuna's chest tighten. Chaeryeong wasn't much of a social butterfly to guys and other people, something seemed to hold her back from interacting as lively as she does with her sister the other members of IZ*ONE, but seeing her chatting so freely with Jeongin makes Yuna feel self conscious of herself and how she'll be able to interact with the dongsaengs of TXT and NCT.

  
Come to think of it, has Jeongin met their dongsaengs already?

  
"Oppa," she calls, but catches the cringe he tried not to show when turning to her. It makes the three girls laugh.

  
"Don't laugh at me! It's just- weird, okay?" He tries defending, his expression pouty.

  
Ryujin chuckles beside Yuna, "Yen, you already forbid Chaer and I from calling you that and threatened to make a contract out of it. Just get used to it with Yuna. She is below 2002."

  
Yuna inwardly winces at that. That is pretty damn young.

  
Chaeryeong elbows him, "Yeah, and you did say-"

  
He swats her elbow away with little effort, "I know what I said."

  
Jeongin scratches the back of his head, fixing his headband and black mask. The headband was a definite trait that makes him look handsome paired with the (in Yuna's opinion) superior outfit of a not-so casual thrown light blue leather jacket and dark jeans. He could almost look like a biker and not the maknae of Stray Kids if he didn't wear boots and if his leather jacket wasn't zipped open, revealing a black turtle neck underneath. Damn, he was fine. Like, runway model fine.

  
Her Unnies were dressed to match him, maybe not accurately but enough to look superior together. Casual outfits just fit them like a glove to glow. One more reason to make Yuna feel out of place.

  
"Sorry about that, Yuna. You were saying?" He offers her a sheepish smile.

  
Yuna pauses, playing with her sweater paws, "Uh.. well, I was wondering if.. you've met any of the dongsaengs close my age that I'm gonna meet later?" She feels a bit small, "I just- I'm kind of nervous."

  
Jeongin's expression automatically turns into a soft smile, and they all continue walking, with Yuna now side by side with him. "You'll like them, I can promise you that. I have met all of them, actually. I think you'll get along really well with Jisung, he's a polite and hyper youngster when he isn't moody. Taehyun and Kai are nice too. Though, I haven't exactly had a full conversation with Kai yet but you two might hit it off well. Since you both are the youngest between all of us."

  
Huh, she didn't think her worries would ease that quickly. "Really? Are they like- um, should I watch out for anyone?"

  
Jeongin giggles, "The only people who are loud and socially destructive enough to cause trouble are Beomgyu and Chenle, don't worry, they're stable," He assures, patting her shoulder, then frowns a little, "But if they decide to bring you into trouble, please let me know. I'd hate to bear responsibility over a massacre."

  
She laughs, her worries flattening at his jokes. It probably won't be so bad, right?

  
⁃

  
Well, nothing bad has happened just yet.

  
And no, she wasn't asked to cause trouble, or create a massacre like Jeongin said

  
When they entered the -apparently- cat cafe, Yuna had cooed at the kittens that were being fed and waddling in groups near another room further from the actual cafe. The place was private, and reserved for them for the early part of the day, (perfect idea, Gyu).

  
Said teen had waved for them from the large booth the he had chosen, smiling just as brightly and greeting just as loudly as Yuna would've predicted. He was incredibly friendly, like Chaeryeong had told her. Chenle had greeted her more politely, but he occasionally snickered and joked with Beomgyu and Jeongin just seconds after the polite act subsided.

  
Jisung, Taehyun and Huening Kai were there too as promised, the three of them huddled in their own separate booth across from the '01 line, looking awkward but sort of comfortable.

  
Yuna mustered a grin and a wave before realizing she had to bow too. They all stood up and bowed along in greeting, smiling politely as they welcome her.

  
"Yuna, right? Glad you could join us too." Taehyun says, his voice smooth and friendly. Yuna chuckles, "Likewise."

  
A second later, Taehyun's attention goes to someone behind her, his smile growing so wide she could almost stare longer. He moves away and walks towards Jeongin, who greets Taehyun with a short hug, and perhaps it was meant to be between the two of them, but Yuna heard Jeongin's small whisper of, " _You look good,_ " in a very affectionate way that she turned red and ducked, sliding within the booth, stopping near Kai.

  
He looks sheepish with his white mask just below his mouth, ".. just knew too?"

  
She awkwardly eyes him, trying not to look bothered but he looks okay with her, so she nods. He shrugs, "Taehyun hasn't shut up about him for almost an hour, even after we got here. Poor Jisungie here had to find out that way."

  
He pats the shoulder of the tall maknae of NCT, who rubs the back of his neck with a chuckle. "I find them kind of cute. It's nice that Taehyun has someone like Jeongin-Hyung to be with him." He smiles at them, whom Yuna had just realized are cooing over a kitten that stumbled on Taehyun's foot.

  
Kai sits back, shrugging, "Eh, as long as Jeongin- _Hyung_ doesn't hurt him, I'm good with tolerating him."

  
Now, Yuna and Jisung have only just met Huening Kai, and so far they've only seen and learned about him through their variety shows, their music line-ups and through polite bows down the hallway when they pass by each other. They figured he was a nice and talented person as the rest of his group, the type of maknae between the three of them who acts cute to gain his Hyung's attention and often pranks or jokes around with them as his form of activity.

  
But with the way Kai had pressed on the word, " _hyung_ " when saying Jeongin's name had indubitably raised a spike of suspicion. What was with the tone?

  
"You.. don't like Jeongin-Hyung?" Jisung asks, and Yuna's quite surprised at his straightforwardness.

  
Kai blinks, and he looks back and forth between the duo between him. He shakes his head, "Ah, sorry. I just-" his eyes dart towards the eldest of their group, who had lifted a kitten and is currently caressing it with such care and gentleness, it looks almost impossible to dislike Jeongin. Or whatever Kai was feeling towards him.

  
"..I don't understand his.. _motive_." Kai whispers low enough, only for Jisung and Yuna to hear.

  
"His motive?" Yuna echoes, looking at the older with confusion.

  
He nods. "He just.. I don't trust his true intentions on.. suggesting whatever were doing right now." They stare to where her Unnies and their Hyungs were located now, laughing freely and gushing over the kittens at the other side of the room.

  
He continues, "He started hanging out with Beomgyu-Hyung all of a sudden, just out of nowhere, then weeks after, Gyu wouldn't stop talking about the things Jeongin has been doing. Jisung says he helped Chenle-Hyung with his leg, and I heard he and Ryujin became close not long after, and with that stunt he pulled at KCON? It's suspicious."

  
The two maknaes honestly had no idea where he was going with this. Furthermore, Yuna did not expect her first time meeting these boys would lead to Kai gossiping about her friend. Either way, they took everything he said in mind.

  
"It just- it may seem like a coincidence, but recently he wants to invite us, the dongsaengs of _his_ dongsaengs. It just seems fishy to me. Like.. it's like he has something he wants to experiment on. Or get something out of being friends with us."

  
Jisung cocks his head, looking at Kai bizarrely, "I can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind before, but after I met him, what you're saying sounds a little bit far-fetched to me. Are you sure you just, I dunno, don't like him?"

  
Kai throws his hands up, exasperated, "I was just pointing some stuff out. If you think about it all together, it's all connected, right?" He turns to Yuna, who startles at the attention.

  
"O-Oh.." She utters, thinking. Should she agree? Should she not? Jeongin was a sweet person by nature. He was also a natural Hyung or has experience being the elder figure by default as he had a little brother. But Kai did raise some points on the connection of it all, why would things between everyone just magically fall together as if fate was just there? Somewhere, true within Kai's explanation, maybe he was on to something, but without further or concrete evidence, Yuna can't think of any firm conclusion.

  
"I guess.. you have a point. But, maybe before judging him like that, you should try to get some answers from him," she advises, much to Kai's confusion. "He's a straightforward person too. Being the eldest between all of us could be pressuring to him, so maybe he _does_ hide something beneath it all. But before we accuse him of anything, if you really want to know, I say you talk to him. Get him to tell you if he really does have a motive behind this." She gestures to said teen's beaming face while being climbed on by a kitten.

  
Kai hums, contemplating, but overall looking as if he had taken her words into consideration. Jisung grimaces, "If you do find out anything, I hope you'll appreciate his honesty with whatever he tells you. If Jeongin-Hyung really is hiding something, he must be doing it for good reason."

  
Kai shrugs again, but Yuna could definitely agree with that.

  
⁃

  
"Pass the plates around- thank you Lele. Hand me that butter knife, please."

  
Within half an hour, the nine of them had spent their time together to the fullest, as much as they could.

  
Yuna, Kai and Jisung, going past the deep suspicion Kai had accused, bonded really well. Kai was pretty chill, and kind of hyper, and the three of them could relate nothing more than being babied by their members. Taehyun had joined in on their conversations, easily fitting himself in their topics ( _what were the odds Jisung and Taehyun were the born on the exact same day on the exact same year?_ ) and getting along well with Yuna just as much. She found herself at ease.

  
Jeongin was right.

  
Now, the nine of them were finally seated together within the large booth, passing down the food and drinks and silverware being delivered. The '01 line were back in their seats, while Taehyun had slipped back into his own booth after spending another moment with Jeongin, sitting down beside Yuna and flashing her a dashing smile as he did. She only ducked in embarrassment, trying not to look mesmerized because god she could see why Jeongin likes him so much.

  
Said teen had taken the edge of the '01 line booth, helping out with passing by the pastries and sandwiches they ordered, making sure everyone had their own plates for their own piece of food, ensuring the beverages they ordered were truly their orders, and at some point, he handed each of them tissues and some wet wipes he brought, advising them not to make a mess since they booked the place for themselves and should try to maintain themselves.

  
Witnessing such actions had Yuna confused. He was being a sweet sunbae, she doesn't understand why Huening Kai would find him suspicious. He was just looking out for them, and she was okay with it. What was so wrong with him being someone who wanted to be there for their dongsaengs?

  
She froze.

  
Her fork held part of her cake slice in mid air, seconds away from her mouth, but she dropped it, having thought of something that just made her completely malfunction.

  
Of course, Jeongin noticed first. He lowers his own chopsticks, looking mildly concerned at Yuna's frozen figure. "Yuna? What's wrong?"

  
The boys beside her eyed her too, curious and just as concerned. Soon enough, everyone waited for her reply, but she remained silent, her mind still processing a certain thought that might've been the answer to Kai's growing suspicion.

  
But..

  
..how is she going to tell him?

  
"Uh.." She comes back from her train of thoughts, finding all eyes on her, much to her dismay of attention. "I-It's nothing.. I just.. I just thought of something, and.." She tries, she really does, so very hard not to glance at Jeongin.

  
"..it just made me realize some things."

  
Everyone's expression morphed into confusion, save for Jeongin, who looks curious.

  
"Are you.. okay with sharing them?"

  
Ah, ever so considerate.

  
"It's about you, Jeongin-Oppa." She admits, her tone speaking with confidence for once today. He looks surprised. As did everyone else. Yuna has to say this, she has to. She has to get this idea across before Kai finds any more reason to dislike Jeongin even further.

  
"Uh.. what about me?" He looks shy, and a little confused. It's cute.

  
She smiles surely, "You're.. You've been a really kind sunbae to all of us, you know? I uh.. I want to point out that.. well, even as the maknae of your own group, you really know how to take care of people like us; I mean.. we're basically strangers, if you think about it,"

  
Jeongin's shy expression disappears, but he listens attentively, no judgement within his eyes, nor any malice shown as she talks. God, he hides things really well.

  
He does it for them. She realized that.

  
"I'm just trying to say thank you for bringing me and us-" she gestures to the boys beside her, who eye her with mild surprise, "-together, here, today. We could be more than strangers if anyone tried to make it happen, and that was you. You're a great sunbae, and a kind Oppa to me."

  
The rest of the group had mixed reactions to her confession, but Jeongin had the softest, and seemingly happiest look she'd ever seen on him.

  
"..that's really sweet of you, Yuna. I'm glad I brought you guys out too. We barely did anything yet, but I'm happy you're enjoying yourself." He bows to her, causing a wave of confusion.

He chuckles with humor, looking up and choosing to eye Yuna, Kai (who seems to be bearing the face of pure perplexity) and Jisung fondly. "The four of us are the maknaes of this nation, were meant to help each other out, y'know?"

Beomgyu gasps sharply, hand flying to stop Chenle's hand that was about to steal his sandwich, making him yelp. "Oh my god, I just thought of a great group name for us!"

He whips out a book and pen -where on earth?- then writes down a quickly written, spontaneous name in bold letters, ' ** _MAKNAETION_** '

His smile is unmatched, even with the bright sun outside, "We're all maknaes of our groups, if not directly, were the maknae _line_. Grouped together from different huge Kpop groups of the nation, we're _Maknaetion!_ It's great isn't it?!"

Surprisingly to Jeongin, there were no immediate objections from his friends. Chenle was looking at the name intently, his lips curling into a smile. Ryujin smirks, while Chaeryeong nods with approval. Jeongin looks over to the actual maknaes and Taehyun, who has a wide grin, his eyes shining with fondness when he makes eye contact with Jeongin. Yuna clapped softly, her cheery grin similar to Taehyun's, while Jisung nods just as much as Chaeryeong does, and Kai..

Kai darts his eyes to Jeongin, and the older knows he wasn't fond of Jeongin since the beginning. He doesn't know why, but he wants to try.

He nods to Kai's way, sending him a small smile.

Kai, in return, inhales slowly, his orbs going back to Beomgyu, nodding as well. "I like it."

' _Maknaetion_ ', sounds like quite the group, huh?

⁃

You're probably wondering about the last person Jeongin will help.

So far, has it been understood? How Yang Jeongin has helped his dongsaengs both physically, emotionally and mentally, shown through _their_ dongsaengs?

Well, almost all of them.

Jeongin is indeed, a kind and honest person by nature. Easy-going, generous, and so understanding. He genuinely did want to help his dongsaengs in any way he can. The first few times it happened, he didn't let it happen on purpose. But things slowly started falling into place for him. And by then, by this moment, it had led to a purposeful intention.

If that wasn't obvious.

The first person to figure out Jeongin's true intentions without much thought is Shin Yuna.

And the last person to see it is Huening Kai.

Jeongin has helped them all through their practical problems, or sudden ones, or conflicted ones. He helped them even without realizing it. He gave so much, and giving involves taking. He's been taking something out of giving. Yuna saw right through it.

It's not something he would likely mention, not even to his members. Not even Taehyun, or Beomgyu, or his new found friends.

But Yuna knows.

And Kai wants to know too.

Bare with Jeongin a little longer.

And bare with Hyuka.

They both just want to understand.

**8 - Huening Kai**

"Jeongin- _Hyung_ ,"

The callous and sarcastic tone belonging to Huening Kai told Jeongin it was probably that moment.

"Yeah? What is it, Kai?"

They were finishing up their time at the cafe, most of them migrated from the cafe to the play room where the kittens were located. They were all occupied with said kittens, save for Kai, and now Jeongin, who walked out to grab his jacket he forgot and Kai had followed him.

The cafe was quiet, empty. It was a private place after all, so the staff and employees wouldn't bother them unless they flagged them down.

Kai steps forward to him, expressionless, eyes holding a held in glare Jeongin knew he was dying to shoot at him.

The elder straightens his posture; he was aware of Kai's hostility towards him. He doesn't know why. He'd like to. But approaching him just hasn't been easy.

"Kai-"

"I want to know," Kai's voice strikes through, not letting the elder talk. Jeongin doesn't have much of a choice. The younger looks pained, and it hurts something in Jeongin even if he hasn't done anything to him. Or maybe he has.

"I want to know.. why you keep doing this."

_What?_

"I know you're hiding something, _Hyung_ ," the sarcasm in the tone makes Jeongin wince. "You.. I don't _hate_ you. I'm going to make that clear. I don't hate you, Jeongin-ssi. But you brought us all out here today for something. You're trying to _experiment_ on something. I've been trying to find out what since truly meeting you. Nobody just starts making friends with my and Jisung's Hyungs and Yuna's Unnies out of the blue and suddenly wants to become closer to us."

Kai takes another step forward, noting the reaction Jeongin was slowly forming. "You're probably a really nice Hyung who just wants to help us out. But I just don't see it. I really don't, _Hyung_. Nobody acts nice and expects nothing from it. You're trying to get something, and I want to know."

Jeongin tries to step back, but Kai's stare has him pinned. "So tell me, what is it you're trying to achieve by being our kind and understanding sunbae? What is so important about trying to get our attention to you?" Kai pierces the icy cold glare in the end, though he sounds.. _desperate_.

"Why are you doing this?"

⁃

Jeongin honestly didn't think he'd get this far.

Huening Kai was grilling him for answers, answers he knows he has now.

But they're answers he doesn't want to say.

What was he trying to achieve, indeed. What was the point of being a kind sunbae to these cute little dongsaengs? We're his actions that noticeable or was Kai just that damn observant?

Well, here's something he wants to ask.

"How could someone be so willing to just.. give up on their dongsaeng?"

⁃

Kai blinks, once, then twice. He didn't expect that, of all things.

"What?"

Give up on their dongsaeng? Who would do such a thing? Where was Jeongin going with this?

The elder stays unmoving, but he blinks a few times, looking as if he were trying to compose himself.

"Huening Kai, let me ask you," his unsteady voice, thick and strained, startles Kai. "..how difficult is it, being the eldest?" He tugs on the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Would you know?"

"..I wouldn't." Yeonjun-Hyung would know, Soobin too. They're the eldest. Was Jeongin asking how hard is it to be the eldest of a bunch of uncontrollable members? Well, personally that is difficult. But if Kai was given the position, he'd try his best.

He wouldn't just _give up_ on them.

"If you.. had the chance to be a better, more reliable person to anyone, you'd take it, wouldn't you?" Oh god, he doesn't like where this is going. Didn't Yuna say Jeongin was a straightforward person? What the hell are these riddles?

"I would," he grumbles relenting to the idea, "are you getting to a point here?"

Jeongin shrugs, and for the first time, Kai sees the hint of sadness hidden within his eyes. He was frowning, and it was heartbreaking to see it.

_What was happening?_

"Then you can understand why I would take it too."

"Anyone would take it," Kai counters back, eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion. "What are you going on about?"

By the second, Jeongin looks as if he were about to crumble. It's paining Kai more than it should. Why was he being so emotional? Kai didn't mean to make him upset, he's being honest. He just- just wants to know!

Why is- why is Jeongin-- _crying?_

"Then why didn't Woojin-Hyung take it?"

..Oh.

Oh.

_Oh_.

"I-" Jeongin chokes, as quietly as he could, clutching his jacket tightly, tears falling, heavy, unstoppable, "I _love_ being a Hyung to you, to Beomgyu, Chenle- I-I _love_ taking care of you and the girls. I didn't care about the worry you all caused, I didn't care about the heart attacks I could've gotten if you all were careless enough to endanger your lives; c-case in point being Chenle and Gyu-"

He inhales unsteadily, breathing ragged, and Kai is _worried_.

"I-I spent my time thinking about how horrible it could be, how suffocating it could be to take care of you all, even if we weren't a group together. It was even more difficult t-to talk to you all b-being so far away.. but we made it work.. we made our group work- every- _no one_ looked unhappy and I- tried my _best_ \- I just wanted t-to.. to see why anyone would just leave this behind.. to leave you all behind.."

He shuts his eyes, turning away, "I don't understand.. why the fuck would Woojin-Hyung give that up."

.. _fuck_.

"..Do you get it, Kai?"

He does now. Everyone else probably knew.

But he finally does.

Sniffling, Jeongin wipes his tears away hastily. Kai doesn't want him to. He wants him to cry. He deserves to cry.

This wasn't right.

"I love you all," he whispers, loud enough for Kai, (Aish it _pains_ him), "I-I grew to love you all. Ch-Channie-Hyung said he loves us, and he loves me. He's someone who never left. Maybe he sees the upside of being the eldest."

That's why. That's why Jeongin asked that.

That's why Jeongin wanted to be close to them.

That's why Jeongin helped them.

That's why.. Jeongin's _helping_ _him_ , right now.

"..but Woojin-Hyung.. didn't."

This is none of Kai's business. This wasn't right at all. He wasn't supposed to be involved with this, and neither were the rest of them. It was all wrong. Jeongin had been _using_ them, but he didn't toy with them. He wanted to see the downside of being someone who was supposed to be your reliable eldest, who was supposed to be there for you during the hard times of the band, who Kai knew shared a promise to Jeongin, and the rest of Stray Kids, to stay with them.

But he didn't.

But Bang Chan stayed. He chose to stay. Jeongin.. Jeongin stayed. He _wanted_ to stay because he grew to love them. And he didn't want to leave them.

And Kai?

Kai wants him to stay too.

"Hyung.."

Jeongin looks up, tears falling again, surprised at the tone from the younger that finally showed no callousness to it, not even dreading sarcasm behind it. Kai had tears of his own, streaming down his cheeks, dripping down his chin. He was so fucking stupid. Jisung was right, Yuna was _right_. Everyone else.. they truly had someone to look up to.

They had someone who wanted them to stay.

"Jeongin,"

The duo gasp, and whip around in panic at the doorway of the play room, Ryujin standing before it, along with everyone else. They held their own mixed expressions that made the tension grow heavier and heavier.

Jeongin doesn't answer, neither does he say anything more.

He shouldn't have said anything at all.

Ryujin walks closer, hesitating, when Jeongin backs away, "Jeongin, we-"

"I'm sorry." Is all he says, and before anyone could stop him, be bolts out of the cafe, not looking back.

Kai watches, gaping, twitching to run after him. But he knows now.

He wished he knew sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We still don't have a damn clue why Woojin left, and i'm not too happy about that but i am happy to see him off with his own work ahead. This story, this chapter in particular is to address the idea of leaving someone behind, and how easy could it be. Woojin probably didn't want to, maybe he DID have a reason, maybe he didn't have a choice. Whatever it is, the actual point will be discussed in the final chapter.
> 
> I'm sorry to anyone who feels offended in this chapter, it's a sensitive topic for us but we have to deal with it at some point. I don't mean to get other fandoms involved, of course. This story is meant to be about friendship, and how Jeongin's friendship with other maknaes of other groups can lift him back up.
> 
> Look forward to the final chap!


	3. Nine Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were nine people in Jeongin's circle.
> 
> When one chose to leave, he was left with seven, and a void that ached despite nothing being there.
> 
> He soon filled that void with eight people, none of which knew him very well.
> 
> But when Jeongin helped each one of them, he unknowingly helped himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't mean to take a while but here it is! The last chap to MAKNAETION 😇 I hope this made sense lmao bc it doesn't to me anymore.
> 
> But hey, I tried.
> 
> This is for Stray Kids, for the past hurt, for all the Stays who were all there and still there for them, and for new things to come someday. Have a good read and enjoy! This was an experience, I tell ya :)

**9\. Yang Jeongin**

_37 missed calls, 162 messages_

_**Recent** : 8 voicemails_

_[incoming call from ' **GyuBear** ']_

[ _declined_ ]

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **GyuBear** '_]

\--- "Yen? Hey.. look, you know we're not mad at you, right? None of us are, not even Hyuka... I didn't- .. I wish I knew what you were going through when this started. I wouldn't have pitied you for it, you know that. I just-- after all this time you.. it must've been so lonely to go through that.. especially without us knowing. We wouldn't ever leave you over that... _I_ wouldn't. If you just-- if you want to talk, to have another night of talking nonsense, you know- to get away... I'm always here."---

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **YeongCherry** '_]

\--- "Chan-Oppa said you weren't doing okay, he didn't mean to rat you out if you wanted to keep it a secret, but he's worried. We're all worried, Yeni. We can't reach you, and even if we were able, we wouldn't want to unless you're okay with it.

...we love you, you know that, right? Ryujin and I really do care about you.. I know.. how tough it was last year.. it pained all of us for sure... I can't justify his reasons, since truly, I know only as much as anyone would allow, but Yen.. what you did.. it isn't worth getting mad about for us. You needed someone- anyone.. And you chose us.. If anything, Yang Jeongin, I'm grateful. Chan is grateful too. You reached out, so please.. don't back away again. We need you too." ---

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **Hyun** 💎'_]

\--- "You must be busy, I saw the comeback promotions. I have to say, you look really, really good. God, I wish I could see you and tell that in person.

Things have been quiet here, but probably hectic for you. Thank you for replying last week. At least I know you're okay and well. But.. I really do want to see you. If I can- if you'll allow me, I'll come by. I-- I get worried sometimes. I don't want us to fall apart, Hyung. I miss you.. so much. My Hyungs are worried about me, said I haven't been taking care of myself much but I'm doing fine- I'm just- I'm just _worried_ about you and it's showing and I just- I--

..Call me soon. I wanna hear your voice." ---

[ _calling ' **Hyun** 💎_']

[ _call accepted_ ]

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **LeleChen** '_]

\--- "Those comeback teasers were _sick_ , man, you guys are hella busy for the promotions, I'm sure. Make time for us soon, Yen. I sent you another fruit basket. Felix said you finished the other one in a few days- heh, I figured you'd love it. Tell me about the schedules and performance units when we see each other soon. I have a whole bag of compliments set out for you, better get ready to take 'em all in.

And, well.. I miss you. We all do. We'll talk again soon, okay?" ---

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **JinRyulty** '_]

\--- "Yen, I'm sorry but this is getting ridiculous. It's been weeks. Soon enough, you're gonna have to face us. Please, talk to your Hyungs, talk to us. We were never angry or offended with you..

What you did.. it has nothing to do with ignoring us now. We care about you, and whatever issue that you have with yourself, we want to help you. It doesn't matter if it's been solved or completely left unknown- what matters is you wanted help, didn't you? You wanted to understand something that didn't make sense. Let me tell you now, Yang Jeongin. What he did, if it made sense to him leaving was an option, but it didn't to you, that means your heart was in the right place for taking care of us. I'm thankful for your help and your entire existence, Jeongin.

Come back to us already. I'd kick your ass for ignoring us instead of getting offended at caring for your dongsaengs. It makes sense to me that you--

..You're one of the best people I've ever met. Don't give up on us." ---

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **SungJiJi** '_]

\--- "Hyung.. you're probably tired of hearing this but we really do miss you. It just proves how much we love you. I only knew you for a short time, but I don't- I don't.. wanna give up the rest that we can have together. Our group.. it just started, Hyung. It can't end. I love our friendship, and.. I need it. As much as you need it, too.. You basically formed us, Yeni-Hyung, you're important. We won't let you go no matter what." ---

[ _incoming voicemail from ' **RealBabyYuna** '_]

\--- "Hey, Yeni-Oppa.. I saw you at the studio yesterday. Did you like the surprise? Hehe, it was from me. I hope you like the brownies, baked them myself. It took a few tries, even with my Unnies' help.. Oh, and don't forget, next week is another meet-up. If you.. decide to go, then just wait at your dorm. Unnies and I will pick you up. This time, Taehyun and Kai chose the location.

Just.. let us know if you're up for it." ---

Jeongin looks at the last voicemail on his messages. It was an unknown number, but he could tell who it was.

To be fair, he was never mad at Kai. Nor was he offended, or upset at his behavior. It made sense why he was suspicious. Jeongin wasn't being as honest as he should've been. But he couldn't exactly bring up a topic like ' _Woojin_ ' up front.

He was mad at himself for not telling in the beginning, but he also had his reasons. It was difficult to accept both as a reason, but he can't bring himself to find another excuse. Was it even an excuse? Was he just trying to sound like an asshole when he wasn't trying to be one but he actually was?

God forbid, he wants to see them all. But he's been cooped up as private as he could. He only accepts calls and messages from Taehyun, and even then, he asked the younger to keep things quiet. He loves that Taehyun is so understanding of him, but he feels guilty that the younger does this for him. It's not fair.

He should just come out, and no, not as in-

"Innie,"

Jeongin jumps, fumbling with his phone that slips from his grasp, relieved to find it fallen still on the bed. He looks up, finding Chan at the doorway, eying Jeongin with fondness.

"Can I come in?" He asks, his voice a little raspy, as he was asleep earlier, judging by the disheveled hair and lack of proper grooming.

Jeongin nods, sitting up and making room for Chan to sit on his bed. They lean against each other in comfortable silence, since Chan sometimes does this with the other members, and Jeongin is used to just sitting with them, or cuddling if they bring him into it. He's just used to it.

And he wouldn't change it for the world.

"Don't you think, it's time to get out of bed?" Chan asks, slicing though the silence. "Your friends have been worried. It's sweet that they care about you so much. They stop by almost everyday when they can."

The younger doesn't look at his leader's way, choosing not to talk. He hasn't opened up fully to his members. He knows- he _knows_ what'll happen if he does.

Bringing up Woojin will never be easy again.

A pale hand pats his knee, and Chan gets into his view, "Innie, talk to me, baby," he urges, and Jeongin resists the urge to crumble at the nickname. "I'd fight the world for you. All of us would."

Jeongin chuckles humorlessly, "Would you fight him too?"

Chan's lips press into a thin line. None of them had to ask who 'him' was.

Shrugging, the leader hums, "If he was making you more upset than we all were, then yes, I would," he replies, grabbing Jeongin's hand to caress it, "But.. you know I love him, Innie. And fighting him would be.. brutal, for my sake since he's so strong like _shit_ -"

Jeongin chuckles again, with more humor this time. Fighting Woojin really would hurt like hell. He's a whole MMA fighter.

Chan eyes Jeongin, his soft eyes not shifting once, "So.. how exactly did the topic of Woojin affect your friendship with the- Maknaetion, was it?"

Jeongin shrugs, waits for a moment or two, then sighs, "I was.. being an idiot, Hyung. A bigger idiot than Jisungie-Hyung at times."

There was a thump from the bedroom door, and Jisung's head pokes through, " _I heard that!"_ He yells indignantly, but his body gets pulled back by several pairs of hands and noises of, " _Dumbass!_ ".

Chan and Jeongin look at each other, then back to the door. "Guys, just get in here." Chan calls, feeling confused whether he should be surprised or disappointed at their behavior but eh, what else is new.

Each one of the remaining Stray Kids members walk into the room, looking guilty and shameful, clearly embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping. Jeongin eyes them all, finding nothing bad behind their intentions as it was obvious they were just worried about him.

He sits up, bringing Chan's hand in his grasp with him, clearing his throat.

"I guess it's time I told you all, huh?" He peeks through his eyelashes, finding all of his members nodding.

"It's about Woojin-Hyung, isn't it?" Minho asks, kneeling in front of the youngest, his look soft and gentle, as if speaking to a sobbing child. "I guess Channie made a point of how the topic about our member went to affect your friendship with other idols," Jeongin winces.

A hand pats his knee, "Jeonginnie, if there's anyone here who should talk and listen on issues about Woojin, it _should_ be us. We.. we didn't know you were still affected by him.." Minho's tone trails off, and his shoulders droop. The rest of the members don't look any better, but their expressions show enough encouragement for Jeongin to take things slow if he wants to talk now.

"We won't rush you, baby," Hyunjin assures, sitting on the edge of Jeongin's bed, offering the youngest his signature comfort smile, one that always has an affect on Jeongin to calm himself. "But we're here, we're _never_ leaving. Until you're ready to say anything, were still around."

He knows that. He knows they'll never leave him. He'll never leave them too. That's a given. The problem isn't _them_ , his members hadn't done anything wrong. It's Jeongin, he's the problem.

He inhales, "I really don't mean to quote anyone here, the first person that comes to mind is Lara Jean but," he pauses, and his members patiently wait. "..I guess I'm afraid of losing people I let in. The more people I gain in my life.. the high chances they can leave and when they do.. I'm not sure if I can handle it again."

Chan unconsciously leans the youngest's body closer to himself, letting him know he understood.

"None of us expected it, huh? When he- when Woojin-Hyung said he was leaving.. I wasn't as.. upset, as I am now. It just didn't hit immediately.."

He trails off, glancing at his phone, eying the last voicemail in his notifications. He gulps.

"..it hit when I realized how careful and.. _protective_ I've been of my friends."

All members of Stray Kids settled themselves within Jisung and Jeongin's room, intent to fully listen to what Jeongin truly needs to let out. And however long and complicated it shall be, they will still listen.

Jeongin purses his lips, eyes to his lap, "I've.. been avoiding everyone for a while, it's obvious. And I feel really guilty about it but I just can't face them, Hyungs. I didn't- I didn't mean to make it seem like a game but- it started with Beomgyu.. he needed help, and I couldn't stand to see him get mobbed like that so I saved him, then a week later, Ryujin came by during a Vlive of ours and she was hungry so I insisted that she eat and I wouldn't let her leave until I was sure she was satisfied with her hunger. Then not long after, I found Chenle with a sprained ankle that was worsening because he refused to tell his Hyungs so I _had_ to intervene, and then Chaeryeong was getting verbally harassed at KCON and I did that _thing_ -"

Chan couldn't help the quirking corner of his lips while hearing his maknae ramble on. He could tell he wasn't the only one. Changbin, Minho and Felix had their own fond expressions being shown as the younger spills his troubles profusely. But they were, indeed, listening.

"-she just tells me how _thankful_ she is for assembling everyone together and I was so touched, I almost cried. Yuna is the sweetest, I felt exactly what it felt to have a maknae of my own."

Seungmin had to bite his inner cheek to prevent from snorting.

"-then.. then Huening Kai spoke with me. He said he wanted to know why I was doing this.. y'know, being a good sunbae to them. Or like, inserting myself within their lives, forming our own group together. He knew.. I had a motive to why. And he was right."

The fond looks disappeared from his member's faces, now turning to confusion and curiosity, no judgement whatsoever.

It took a moment for Jeongin to speak again, "I guess I should've been more careful with my words but I just.. outright told him, my reason. My motive. I told him I loved being a Hyung to the boys, and I loved taking care of all of them. I do. They're all awesome in their own way, and I don't- I don't want them to think I've abandoned them after ignoring them for so long but how can I face them now after admitting the reason I was a good sunbae was because of- because of Woojin-Hyung."

Jisung rubs his left knee, soothing the boy's incoming turmoil. "Innie, can you elaborate?"

Jeongin utters a humorless laugh, "It's pretty clear, Hyung. I was- I was trying to see the.. real reason why he left. Why he would even think about leaving. How- how difficult it was being the eldest to all of you-"

Chan's eyes widen, having not expected that answer, and neither did the others, that's for sure. Jeongin panics.

" _But!_ I can promise you, I didn't. I didn't find any reason to leave them- my friends, I mean. Or any of you. Let me make it clear, Hyungs; I wasn't trying to.. experiment on other idols younger than me to test my reaction of being their eldest sunbae. I guess.. it does seem that way, now that I really have thought about it. But I was just- I've had it, Hyung. When he left, I really didn't understand. Maybe because I'm the youngest, maybe because he was in a different position than I am. But if we all loved each other and promised to stay, why did Woojin-Hyung find a reason to leave you all when I didn't?"

The cracking ache within all of their hearts was so loud, even Jeongin could feel them break. This subject.. it hasn't been talked about in a while. And hearing Jeongin speak about his own problem related to Woojin that resulted into quite the mess.. it affected him more than they all thought.

"I don't blame Kai for finding what I was doing suspicious. But then after I spilled it out, apparently everyone fucking heard me and I just ran. I couldn't face that, I still don't know if I can. Most of them told me they weren't mad, but they should be! They deserve to be mad at me, I was using them. That not any better than Woo-"

"Hey, hey, Innie," Chan wraps both arms around the younger, hushing him softly, "You don't deserve to get blamed for something you were trying to understand. And look, even _they_ understand what you were trying to do if they told you themselves they weren't mad. And neither are we, you know? It's.. it was comforting to know that at least, you were trying to reach out to others. But we never imagined it was because of Woojin."

Hyunjin strokes his hair, casting a wavering frown. "You should have told us, Jeongin-ah. There isn't anyone else we know who will understand your pain more than us. Because he left _us_ too."

Ah, and that's what he was trying to avoid. Hurting them all again, after they had tried to recover as quick as they could.

"Maknae-ah, how was it? Hanging out with them?" Jisung asks, curious.

Jeongin thinks back, then smiles a little, recalling the times of their hangouts. Nothing of the sort was uncomfortable or unsettling; he had great times, save for the last one.

"You know, just the other day, Changbin-Hyung and I ran into Chenle and their little Jisung at Music Bank and the rest of TXT. They asked about you, and insisted to know how you were doing. They're all worried more than we thought." Jeongin is quite surprised, yet not really, at this news.

"Especially Huening Kai," Changbin adds with a nod, "If you think they'll still be waiting while you continue avoiding them, you're probably right. If they do run out of patience, they can just barge in y'know. Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna are allowed in, so I've no doubt the rest of your friends will waltz right in here too."

Jeongin tries picturing them all, in fact, waltzing in. He wouldn't doubt it either. They can be stubborn too, especially Gyu. He chuckles silently.

Chan smiles, "We were relieved and happy, and yeah, a little jealous too, when we saw you walking out almost every week and just yelling out, " _I'm off to see Gyu!_ " Or " _Ryujin's outside, let her in!_ " And even " _I'm gonna go shopping with the girls!_ " It's not something we could've imagined, Innie. Seeing you come home laughing hysterically, a makeover done to your nails, outfit or hair, and even just a moment of smiling like you haven't since Woojin left, it was pleasant. Clearly you love them."

Jeongin agrees; he really does. He wouldn't let them go after his stupid mistake. He can't just leave them.

He would never.

Minho huffs a breathless chuckle, "Then you realize what you did was never what you think it was. You weren't trying to manipulate them or anything. Understanding the reason behind leaving someone is solely up to them. Woojin-Hyung had his reasons, maybe he really did love us, but he couldn't take being in a group. Maybe he didn't love us, and he wanted his own career, one where he wouldn't involve us in it. We don't understand why he left. You were trying to, and you still don't. That means you see it; the bright side of being a Hyung. Of being their sunbae."

Ah.. perhaps that would make sense.

"You can't let them go now, not when they're still around, and not when there's still the chance for you to be happy with them," Chan urges the youngest to stand up, startling him at the sudden action.

"Woojin made his choice. It doesn't matter whether you're the eldest, or anyone's Hyung or Sunbae. Caring about others was your choice by nature, and you indulged in it without seeing a reason not to. Being a Sunbae of course requires dongsaengs, and you can find them anywhere, but being a _good_ Sunbae-"

Jeongin eyes Chan's soft and fond gaze towards him. "-that takes teamwork and friendship. So never mind that we lost a member. We've still remained strong, and so have you. Strong enough to let others in, and experience what Woojin could've still had. We don't need to understand his actions, we should only focus and understand our own."

Jeongin could cry again. He loves Chan, he loves his Hyungs.. so fucking _much_.

"Now," Chan says again after momentary pause, "since we've talked this out, you should know what to do next."

Jeongin nods hastily, new found determination in his aura. His members watch him in amusement as he fumbles around his room, clearly jumbled in the head of what to do.

He pauses, malfunctioning, "Wait, I can't just show up to them now!" He whips to them, distressed, "Yuna said they're having a hang out next week and I'm invited. I could start from there."

Felix snorts as he reaches for something on Jeongin's bed, "I mean, maybe you could do something else in the mean time. Like hear this last voicemail from.." The phone in his hand read the name of the person Jeongin dreaded to talk to. "well.. it's time you and he should talk. He's the one who confronted you about this.. mess, wasn't he?"

Jeongin gulps, then nods.

Felix tosses the phone to the younger, "Have a listen, then. You may never know what he was feeling until you hear it from himself."

Staring directly at the last voicemail, the youngest contemplated with hesitance balancing his options. He's still slightly scared, afraid to know what Kai has said to him. He looked guilty when Jeongin bolted, but there's no telling what Kai truly still feels about Jeongin has unchanged. His suspicions were confirmed, after all. It may just reinforce the dislike from the beginning.

His phone was thrust into his hands within the middle of his contemplation, his members eying him with some look that tells him they're eager for him to get this done with. Ah, meddlesome, as they should be.

Relenting, albeit with sheer reluctance, and without caring of the presence of his members around, he taps on the voicemail.

[ _playing voicemail from **+Unknown Number**_ ]

\--- ".... _Hey.. Jeongin-Hyung_.."

Jeongin still finds himself baffled at the sincerity his tone held at the name. He's grown quick to the sarcasm behind it in such a short time.

\--- ".. _I.. I really.. hope that.. you're doing okay. It's- it's me, Huening Kai. You don't.. um, you don't have to save this number. I just.. Gyu-Hyung and Taehyun-Hyung thought it would be wise and better for me to send this.._

_I.. honestly don't know know where to start. Maybe I shouldn't start anything, but you deserve an apology from me first and foremost... These past few weeks had me thinking so hard I couldn't focus on anything else anymore. I was.. I was an awful dongsaeng to you, Hyung. You didn't- you don't deserve such treatment, not from anyone, especially not from me just because I was suspicious of you._

_...Everyone talked to me about my actions. I.. You're probably thinking that.. after you confessed.. what you truly were doing with us.. that I would hate you now. But I don't, Hyung. I don't hate you, I still stand by that. Jisung said the least I could do was appreciate your honesty and I'm- I'm so, so sorry for pressuring you t-to admitting something that y-ou weren't ready to say and-_ "

There's rustling on the other line, as well as distinctive attempts of Kai trying to hide his upcoming sobs. Jeongin's heart wrenches within his chest.

\--- ".. _I'm so.. fucking sorry. I hope- I don't ask you to forgive what I've done to you.. but I'm willing to- to give our friend group another try. I didn't before, I was so ignorant, all because I didn't trust you. I'm willing to give myself another push of being your friend- your- your dongsaeng. If.. If you'll let me_.."

Jeongin's grip on his phone noticeably tightens, and several pairs of hands ease him down. He loosens the grip.

\--- ".. _Taehyun misses you. And so does Beomgyu-Hyung. I'm sure everyone else does too. You're probably busy these days, Hyung. I'm sorry, for everything. Please don't let us go._

_..I want you to stay._ " ---

Minutes pass, and Chan's hand is wiping Jeongin's moist cheeks. Ah, it seems he'd cried at the last sentence. The tears had started streaming down at the beg Kai had urged.

He wanted Jeongin to stay. With him. With _them_.

And maybe.. this is where he realized he was doing something good behind all the secrets.

⁃

By next week, Jeongin finds himself standing in front of a craft and antique store. It's a snug little place, tucked between a pawn shop to its left and a photography studio on its right. Jeongin has never been here before, but from the description Yuna had told him, it's a place where people can craft anything they would like as a form of memento, gift, accessory or antique. It seems bias, but it's purely for the arts and crafty people, who would take any sort of scrap material and turn it into a magnificent art piece.

And Jeongin, although for sure is not one of those people, can proudly admit he loves art just as much.

The girls had brought him here, albeit a little struggle with Ryujin's direction. They practically knocked down the front door when they found out Jeongin was joining them for the next hangout, nearly wrestling his members towards a duel and roughhousing to find wherever he was located in the dorm. He found himself trapped in a tight, suffocating hug from Ryujin, an affectionate one from Chaeryeong, and a soft, reassuring smile from Yuna before he got bombed on for ignoring them this long. They reconciled, much to his relief, and talked things out further to smoothen the rough patches.

"Well, this is it." Chaeryeong says beside him, staring up at the store. The displays outside had several unique crafts and antiques, abstract and well designed at that.

Chaer eyes the male, "You're really okay with this? They'll understand, but it's you I'm worried about."

Jeongin waves her statement off, "We've been through this. I have to talk about it eventually. Besides, you all deserved to know. Keeping this secret was selfish of me, especially since I was using you for it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ryujin smacks him lightly over the head, "You weren't using us. You were helping us, and yourself. What matters is the outcome of all of this; unlikely friends who didn't have a clue we would be this close."

"Yeah, Oppa. I became closer with Jisung and Kai thanks to you," Yuna adds, smiling brightly, "you were right, that I would get along with them. They're cool, and genuine, and people I didn't know I could've bonded with," She shyly looks down, "it's nice. It's why I cherish our friend group in such a short time."

Jeongin couldn't help the wide, gentle smile, "Yuna, I'm _so_ glad to hear that," he sighs, thankful, yet he sounds exasperated, his hand patting his chest lightly, "Good god, this is making me nervous. I just hope I won't break down or something." The girls pat his shoulders simultaneously.

"That's why we're here to help. You've got friends in high places, in this case, were always willing to pick you up when you're down." Ryujin says, linking her arm through his. Chaeryeong does the same to his left, while Yuna steps forward to open the door.

A bell chime sounds in the store. Inside, the soothing and pleasant aroma of pine wood, scented candles and hints of fresh river water puts Jeongin's mind at ease. The store is filled to the brim with arts and crafts from top to bottom, aisles of wooden crafts, metal trinkets, bizarre, or perhaps physical abstract art pieces, small blank canvases and even varieties of fabric were held in display and were being sold in various stocks.

The color and design of the store was what Jeongin could imagine before entering; like the home of one living comfortably in the woods, with oak pillars and floors, though the beige colored brick walls add to the modern touch next to the black metal aisle shelves and railings of the spiraling stairs that lead up, and several other shelves up the wall that housed more crafts and canvas paintings all around. The place may even match a cozy vintage styled library, considering there were books and several reading areas through the other side of the room in pods, similar to that of the library and gaming stops in Seoul. The store was bigger than anticipated from outside, and right off the bat, it could already be one of Jeongin's favorite places to mark.

The girls didn't even fight the temptation to look around, gasping and squealing at the trinkets and even wood carvings of their interest, being careful but adamant to check them out. There were a few heads that Jeongin could see behind some of the aisles, but before he could call back the girls to find the rest of their group, he wanted to check out the place himself.

His first eye candy was the little accessory area, the dangling and displayed jewelry at the front desk; necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins, broaches and earrings catching his attention first and foremost due to its exquisite designs for mere crafts. Some were vintage fashioned and old school, made of wood and traditionally styled. Some had its own crafting of different beads and jewels, and others had fine jewelry embedded within the metallic chains and patterns. Jeongin was fascinated by a particular black ring that held a small, rose gold colored gem atop as the masterpiece, though snugly secured within the ring to lessen any discomfort upon wearing it.

He had stared for too long, as soon enough, a pale, wrinkled hand had reached within the glass display to gently pluck out the ring from its hold beside the others, snapping Jeongin out of his deep stare to look up and find an old woman presenting the ring before him.

"Here, young man, have a closer look if you may." She patiently holds out the jewelry, smiling politely as Jeongin takes it with hesitance, examining it intently.

"It's beautiful, ma'am. Is this a crafted piece?" He asks, fascinated.

The woman nods, shutting the glass slide of the display, "Indeed it is. My husband put his hard earned work to create a fine piece such as that and all of the others," she gestures to the rest of the jewelry, "it might be a little odd to think of this place being a whole DIY department, but the accessories are our jobs, while the crafting and ideas are up to you."

At that, Jeongin freezes, "..this ring was commissioned?" That would mean he can't have it, or touch it for that matter.

To his horror, the woman nods casually, "A young man placed an order down around a month ago. Sweet lad, he is. He gave careful instructions too. Said it was meant to be special. We asked for the lucky one's name but he already went ahead and asked for said name to be placed within the ring's loop."

Jeongin almost dropped the accessory had it not been for his curiosity. He carefully inspects the ring, doing his best to spot any engraving of sort, hopeful to find some lucky girl's name that could tuck him out of his hopeful line to keeping the ring. What he found had completely thrown him off at seeing a lovely cursive font of his _own_ name.

Gasping, he nearly drops the ring again, thoroughly and swiftly saved by safely placing it on the glass display table, gaping wide.

"W-What the.." He breathes out, almost shaken. Had he been seeing things? He had to. It couldn't be his own name. That doesn't make sense!

The old woman eyes Jeongin curiously, "What's the matter? Do you recognize the name?"

Before he could answer, another hand is in his line of view, and the ring is being taken away from the table, it's replacement being debit card. "This would conclude my order, thank you ma'am, do give your husband my compliments to his work. It was eye catching enough to grab the perfect attention from the right person."

Good lord, he knows that voice anywhere.

Craning his head slowly, Jeongin is more than shocked to find Taehyun at his side, smiling so charmingly, it makes his heart and knees tremble. He's still gaping apparently, too gobsmacked to filter out his expression until it has Taehyun giggling.

"God, Hyung, you look like a pufferfish. No offense, it's cute though," the younger giggles again.

Jeongin blinks, "..Taehyun? _You_.. ordered this ring?" he feels breathless for some reason, as if seeing his own boyfriend here and finding out he had purchased a beautifully made ring with Jeongin's name on it was news. _Because it was!_

Taehyun chuckles, "I did. And no, it's not a proposal, unless you want to see it that way, I'm more than happy to be your fiancé."

That was _not_ helping Jeongin's resolve from shock in any way.

"But if you paid attention to what Yuna said, Hyuka and I chose this place as our hangout. Meaning I'm partly behind with what we're going to be doing today. And to begin, I give you this," the younger takes Jeongin's hand in his, unfolding it with a gentleness that makes the elder's heart flutter all around to the point it could stop functioning all together as Taehyun slides the ring on.

"Ah, stunning and a perfect fit. I did well in guessing." Taehyun muses, smirking to himself, his hand still holding Jeongin's.

"Oh my, so I was right. This is the one you were boasting about," the old woman before them gushes after swiping and charging Taehyun's card and offering it to back to him, holding a hand above her heart, "You're quite lucky indeed, laddie. Taehyun-ssi had requested for this ring very meticulously, it warmed our hearts at the attention he took to my husband to perfect the design. A keeper, indeed."

At this point, Jeongin's entire body was flaring. Taehyun could probably tell through the radiating heat from the hand in his hold, in which he responds by pulling the other, joining the two of them together into an embrace.

The elder breaks away from his reverie and dumbfounded shock, choosing instead to reciprocate the warm hug, finding sheer comfort from it.

"I missed you," Taehyun whispers, his breath tickling Jeongin's ear. Curse the day all of these wretched male dongsaengs decided to grow taller than him.

"I missed you too," the elder whispers back, smiling happily.

When they pull apart, Jeongin eyes the ring on his finger with utmost wonder once again. "You didn't have to do this, Hyun. Isn't this a little too much?"

Taehyun waves him off, "I haven't seen you in weeks, Hyung. Beomgyu-Hyung said if we were going to see each other again, I should express how much I missed you in any form of grandeur. And this ring is the least I could offer," he presses a soft kiss to the ringed hand, much to Jeongin's utter blushing mess.

"Fucking _not_ true, he had other simple ideas that didn't sit well with us, so the ring was the last thing he thought of." A voice calls from the far corner in the back of the room, where the spiraling stairs were located and where an eavesdropping '01 duo were situated.

Chenle smirked at them cheekily, "Although I have to admit, as cheesy as this is, I'm kinda proud."

"Watch your language, young man." The old woman scolds, clambering out of the front desk and beckons the two boys near her to follow. "Teenagers and their profanity. Honestly, it doesn't pain you to refrain such words in front of the elderly."

Chenle chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "Sorry, ma'am."

Beomgyu shoves at his friend's silliness, with Taehyun and Jeongin snorting in tow. Eventually, the girls come joining them, instantly eying the distinctive ring somehow seen through Jeongin's hand hold with his boyfriend. They gush and coo, cupping their cheeks with glee at how much of a romantic Taehyun can be and how lucky Jeongin is.

Beomgyu pats against the black metal railing of the staircase to gain their attention, "Alright, _Maknaetion_. We've been given permission to hangout here for the rest of the day as we please. Upstairs is where the fun comes, Jeongin, and you're not going to miss out with what we have planned. If you walk out of here without it.. well, we'll just snatch you back in. Anyways, onwards!" He needs forward, marching upstairs with an equally enthusiastic Chenle and Ryujin.

"Don't make too much noise up there, I don't want teenagers scaring my customers away!" warns the old lady, earning a bow and short thank you from Chaeryeong, Yuna and Jeongin while Taehyun leads them upstairs.

It was more spacious than originally thought of from the outside view. There were more pods for reading and crafting, benches, couches, beanbags and large cushions everywhere for the sake of comfort, more shelves that stocked different patterns and designs that Jeongin guesses is connected to the rows and even more stocks of crafting materials all around the room. The white and beige brick walls accents the oak wood floor just as it had downstairs, as well as a few thick black metal railings and ladders that lead up to book shelves and more individual private pods, but the most prominent feature that lights up the room is the open curtains of the balcony. The room is bathed in the sunlight, not too harsh nor too dim.

It's quite literally picture perfect.

Ryujin whistles, " _Goddamn_ , Taehyun.. you chose quite the place. Think of the nice ass pictures we'll be taking here."

Chenle snickers, "Our fans will go _nuts_."

"I don't think most of them know we're all friends yet," Chaeryeong muses, "We never really post anything on social media about us."

"Well that's about to change," Beomgyu declares, leading them to the crafting area, where two other individuals stand, waiting for them.

Jeongin's chest tightens at the sight of Huening Kai, dressed casually and standing awkwardly as he waits for everyone to approach. He looks sheepish, shoulders sagged in a silver of guilt and hesitance. But with a nudge from Jisung beside him, who was also dressed casually like the rest of them, Kai steps forward.

"Hi.. Hyung," he utters, trembling a little, but attempts well at smiling.

Jeongin lets go of Taehyun's hand, the rest of the group distancing just a little for the two members in dire need of a talk. "Hey, Huening Kai.. how are you?"

Kai straightens, looking uncomfortable, "I.. should be asking you that, Hyung."

Jeongin shrugs, "Well, I'm here," his chest still tightens, but his hands move forward to grasp Kai's shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly, "And I'm ready to talk."

Kai holds his gaze for a moment, his orbs widening in surprise at Jeongin's casual behavior. He then steps back, then bows deeply all of a sudden, much to the eldest's confusion.

"I'm sorry, Hyung!" Kai exclaims, desperate, and trembling still, "I'm so, _so_ sorry! I shouldn't have pressured you, Hyung! Or should've been so rude to you! You didn't deserve that, I don't deserve to be here today, but if there was any way I could apologize to you, it has to be through face to face. I didn't mean to push you to answer that, it was insensitive of me, Hyung. I hope- Really, it's okay if you don't, but I do hope you'll forgive me for being such a dick.."

The younger still remains bowed low, his knees now also trembling as his voice had. For a moment, Kai thought Jeongin would ignore him, or leave, or something, but the bright blue conversed below him had moved out of view, and soon enough, Jeongin was in his line of sight, doing his best to stare right at Huening Kai with determination.

Kai, startled, lifts himself back up with struggle, almost falling had it not been for Jeongin, who grabs Kai's arms and pulls him into a bear hug on the ground.

"Wh- Hyung-" his next words go muffled, his face pushed in between Jeongin's neck and shoulder, and thick scarf.

The hands on his back move, one towards Kai's hair, and the other to grip his back and pull him closer into the embrace. Kai feels the unnatural flooding of relief and comfort in such a hold; damn, Jisung was right. This is absolutely _pleasant_.

"I forgive you, Kai. I really do, you don't have to worry or apologize anymore."

Kai almost gasps. He'd been bothered by Jeongin's possible forgiveness or not for weeks. He was scared beyond anything if Jeongin decided to call off their friend group, haunting and toying the idea of what SKZ's ex member had done to them, the same as what potentially would've happened to him and this group.

It would've broken him no less than if his own members left him.

"It's okay, Kai, you don't have to cry.."

Crying? He didn't realize he was sobbing, he was just too relieved. Bless Jeongin for having the patience to deal with every one of them, and now, Kai himself.

All too soon, their hug was coming to an end, as Kai was getting uncomfortable with their position. But he had to bare even longer when several bodies piled around them, more pairs of arms locking itself securely around the hugging duo, trapping them in a big warm embrace, bigger than he imagined.

" _Maknaetion_ is back, people!" Beomgyu hollers, eliciting more hollers and cheers of joy from the piled bodies, whooping happily as they hugged the life out of Jeongin and Kai.

The eldest, gazing at each one of them, fond, emotional, happy.. his own line of dongsaengs. He wouldn't give this up for the world.

⁃

This isn't the end yet, not quite.

What was the point of coming to this place anyway? They can't just hug it out and things will be okay.

None of them have done their part yet. Kai had more than just an apology waiting, and so do the others.

Jeongin deserves more than that. He deserves more than happiness.

He deserves to be _certain_ of his happiness.

⁃

"Okay, everyone grab your own set of charm or patterns. It has to be different from the rest, and you have to have a reason for why you chose it. It's meaningful that way. Now shooh," Beomgyu orders them before rushing off to the other side of the room to fetch some chains and ropes. Jeongin guessed they were probably making a necklace or most likely a bracelet.

Everyone else disperses to find their own box of specific charms, since there was a variety to choose it from the different box sets on the tables. It's truly amazing how all of this was just displayed here for the purpose of craft making, but he guessed that's the sole reason the old lady and her husband made the place.

A craft of their own.

" _Oooh!_ Look at the tiny unicorns! This is perfect for me!" Yuna squeals when she snatches a box filled with unicorn charms, much to everyone's amusement and delight. She can be extremely cute when she wants to be, it could be the death of Jeongin somehow. Chan says that about him sometimes. He blames it on the overwhelming cuteness maknaes just tend to radiate. Like Shuyang from Boy Story, whom Jeongin _knows_ Chan is whipped for.

"Hyung, look," Taehyun nabs Jeongin's attention to an entire display of flowery charms, each box containing different types of flowers ever learned, and this is saying something since Jeongin knows much. Taehyun picks and pecks at a few, naming each of them out loud, fascinated by the array of varieties.

The eldest spots some that catch his fancy, as he knew the definitions and meanings behind the flowers. But one he saw was most definitely attention grabbing and so fitting, he grabbed the entirety of the box and handed it to Taehyun.

"This one suits you, Hyun," he says when the younger takes it gingerly.

"Protea flowers?" Taehyun cites curiously, picking up one of the charms of many. The flower itself was beautiful and bizarre, the curved petals of pink and white hues that close in on itself surrounding the purplish middle give its unique image that just seems so fitting to Kang Taehyun, to which Jeongin informs to his boyfriend aloud, much to his embarrassment at being complimented.

"Besides the idea of transformation, it symbolizes bravery too," Taehyun perks up at that, gaping a little, his big eyes widening even brighter, "and if that isn't what comes to mind about you, then I'll be an idiot not to think so." Jeongin shrugs, smiling quirkily.

Taehyun's gape grows into a widening smile, stretching his cheeks into the plump attractive features Jeongin would really love to snap a photo at this very moment.

Without bothering to even give a verbal answer to his boyfriend's obvious extreme compliment, Taehyun leans forward to press a soft peck to Jeongin's high cheekbones, earning a red hue coloring both cheeks of his face. Taehyun chuckles, uttering a small whisper of " _thank you_ " to the elder, then steps away. Their hands find each other, and they keep looking around.

Minutes later, everyone else had already chosen their charms, judging by the little smiles they have as they carry their choice of boxes to the counter table of the room, where nine chairs are waiting for them all. Jeongin is still searching, having not quite found a particular charm that he could deep worthy to mean something.

When he stops by another table he checked over earlier, he scans the many boxes in his sight, still indecisive. If only Hyunjin or Minho were here, they'd know what to pick for him. Maybe Seungmin too. He could text them.

About to reach his phone, a box was thrust into his hands, startling the eldest. Kai is eying Jeongin with some sort of mix face of determination and anticipation, his lips forming a ready smile. "I saw you having trouble, so I've been saving this for you."

Jeongin looks down to the box, seeing copious amounts of key charms within it, his mind instantly going to the lore and story of the Stray Kids Universe in their music videos.

"Keys? Why though?" He asks the younger, who shrugs, "We'll all state our reasons when we make the thing, so come on!" He urged, grabbing Jeongin and dragging him to the table where the others were waiting.

Settling down, each member place their boxes within a rotating decagonal platform suited for each box to be put in. Beomgyu excitedly claps, "Okay, team. This how it's gonna go down. We each take a chain or rope, your pick. Make sure it's sturdy and string enough to last as long as you want it to, and measure your wrists too, just in case," they all do as he says, picking up the array of lengthy ropes and gains within the center of the place form.

Jeongin takes a chain, finding it more suitable in this case for it to last its use longer. The rest of his friends grab a mix of options, such as Chaeryeong, Taehyun, Kai and Beomgyu going for ropes, while the rest go for chains. Oddly enough, everyone had a balance of what they chose; nice.

Taehyun smiles, "Alright, how we're going to do this is we all have to take each charm from the boxes. If you want to add more for the ropes, there's a bunch of beads in this section of the platform," he gestures to the display of colorful beads, "and if you want to add some more design for the chains, this platform is meant for it," he points to another platform of boxes where they contain smaller, metallic designs for the silver chains they chose.

"But, before we do so," Kai interrupts everyone just as they were about to reach. "We have to state why we chose this particular charm. It's important."

Collective nods and shrugs are earned from that, and they randomly choose who to start first.

"I'll go," Chenle announces, grinning. He plucks out a dolphin charm, instantly eliciting eruptions from the group, knowing full well what the charm had meant and why he chose it.

Chenle barks out his laughs, standing up as he holds the dolphin charm out. "Well, this is my pick. If it isn't obvious, I represent myself as a dolphin. I could've chosen other things, but this dolphin is my spirit animal, so whenever you look at it, just remember my high pitched, bloodcurdling screams haunting your ears. Which I can proudly say are higher than Jeongin's screams, so hah," he sticks his tongue out at the eldest, much to the fueling laughter of his friends.

Next was Yuna beside him, smiling brightly as she took one of the unicorn charms from her chosen box, "We aren't consistently doing animals as our charms, but I chose a unicorn since it's also my nickname. ' _Yunacorn_ ', or something like that," her Unnies coo, to which she eye rolls at them for, "I like the idea of unicorns not existing, but is being talked about because it's not _real_ , and the fact that it has features that aren't natural or realistic. Reminds me of myself- not the not existing part, but being talked about because of my unnatural ways, it causes mysterious attention. It can give a bigger impact when people find out I _am_ real."

That earned her an applause, loud praises and " _Ooooh"s_ for representing such a meaning. Jeongin feels kinda proud, not gonna lie.

"Our baby is a special one," Beomgyu comments, smiling warmly at the youngest, to which has her blushing shyly.

"My turn," Ryujin smirks, standing up, her charm already in hand; a red pepper.

The group of friends hold confusion on their features. She laughs. "Allow me to explain with a line of my song, but spiced up a little.." Her smirk is all the warning Jeongin can understand to know where this was going.

Her puns.

"' _I see that I'm Spicy'_ ,"

Collective groans retaliate the echoing laughter through half the group, the ones not doing so merely shaking their heads in disappointment.

"But for real," the rapper clears her, getting serious, "I'm a spicy person, and I will _not_ hesitate to fight back anyone who hurts you all. Personally, that's how I see myself, and how I feel with all of you." She flashes them all a smile, creating a softened mood that eased everyone's minds somehow.

"That's sweet of you, Jinnie," Jeongin comments.

She goes back to smirking, bowing as if her show was over, "Sweetness falls to our designated cherry,"

"Hey!" Chaeryeong yells indignantly, pouting as she reaches over and tries to smack Ryujin, failing. "I was supposed to tell them that,"

"It's fine, RyeoungChae," Beomgyu waves off the spoiler, providing her an inviting smile to let her continue, "Show us whatcha got,"

Chaeryeong huffs and discreetly flips off Ryujin, much to everyone's surprise as it wasn't discreet at all. She proceeds to pick up a cherry charm, a little dance coming from Ryujin.

"It should be obvious. ' _Chaerry_ ', y'know. I suppose I live up to the idea of a cherry. Sweet, since I'm not as rowdy as Ryujin, or just as reckless. Besides, you guys said whenever you look at a cherry, you're reminded of me. I guess it's one way of sending off a memento to you all should we ever be far apart," she casts a lowered gaze, "It also shows how soft I am, and how easily scared I can be. But I care about you all, so if anyone needs a moment to just let something out from a bad day, a stressful hour, even a second of peace, just let me know." She gives her brightest smile yet, radiating a token of happiness to her group, influenced far too quickly.

Chenle wipes at his eyes, sniffling a little, "That's so touching, Chaer, I'm not crying- you are-" Beomgyu shoves at his shoulder, scoffing. "Anyone next?"

"Me! Me!" Jisung raises his long, gangly arm excitedly, almost hitting Beomgyu in the process.

He stands up, pulling out a cartoonish mochi, smiling widely at the half perplexed and half amused faces of his friends. "Jaemin-Hyung calls me Mochi sometimes, and it stuck for a while. I guess it represents me as someone who looks plain on the outside but I could be anything on the inside," Chenle has a shit-eating grin for him sounding so poetic Jisung almost wants to throttle the elder.

"But to be frank, if I were to put us in the picture of me as a Mochi, then I'd say I'm soft for you all. Like Chaery-Noona. I act tough and confident around my group and NCT Sunbaes, but here, I like to act out less. Yuna, Kai and Taehyun just get me. It's.. relieving. So, as a memento, I'm your official Mochi." He bows when everyone applauses again, his friends nodding and agreeing to the representation. A Mochi just made him look and sound even cuter, it was _devastating_ to have these maknaes around.

"Looks like it's down to TXT and Jeongin. Who's going next?" Ryujin questions with an eyebrow raised.

Taehyun stands at the same time as Beomgyu, both not realizing until they caught eye contact. Jeongin and Kai, who were beside them, snorted at the momentary silence before the standing duo begin arguing.

"Taehyun, as your Hyung, you should allow me to-"

"Now, now, Hyung, we both know I stood up first."

"You didn't even call me out if you stood up first. To save the time, let's settle this like men!"

"You mean fighting to the death with swords, shields and bows and arrows? I don't think the owners would appreciate the spilling of your blood on the carpets-"

"No! No! We aren't- hang on, why are you assuming it'll be _my_ blood spilling?"

"Don't be dense, now, Beomgyu-Hyung, it's obvious who will prevail."

For the next five minutes, Taehyun and Beomgyu end up in an abrupt and intense battle of scissor paper rock, with Chenle and Jisung feeding the fire by fueling the duo up and rooting for them. The rest of the group merely watch in amusement and gain quite the show of a whining and despairing Beomgyu when he lost to his dongsaeng.

Taehyun fixes his hair fashionably, smirking smugly at his Hyung. "Now then, here I have the Protea flower. I didn't actually choose this. Jeongin-Hyung did, and he said it symbolizes transformation, which you can tell with the uniqueness of the color and structure. But it also symbolizes bravery, something.. Hyung helped me find between ourselves," he gifts his boyfriend a flicker of his gaze, making the elder beside him blush, "He says bravery or confidence has been a trait of mine since meeting each other. I just hope I'm not in over my head because of it. I'm glad I can be able to hangout with you all without having some jerky trait.. unless I have?" He winces, inwardly hoping that wasn't the case.

The rest of his friends deny any sort of jerkiness level coming from Taehyun, reassuring him he was a fine young man who was too kind and far too generous and more mature than the rest of them to ever let himself be a fool of overconfidence. He sighs in relief at that, sitting down with a content smile.

"Alright, my turn finally," drawls Beomgyu as he picks himself up from the soft carpeted floor, eye rolls coming as his response, of which he ignores.

"My little charm happens to be a baby bear head," he shows them the adorable little brown teddy bear charm, earning the hearts of everyone at how stupidly cute it is. Beomgyu chuckles smugly, "I know, I know, adorable. It represents the one and only me since I'm just as cute, and.." He purses his lips, looking mildly distant as he thinks, "..and I guess. I'm known as one of the loudest and extroverted people ever. That means no matter what, I'm always a friend you can count on." He places the charm back in its place, sighing as he sits down, "And I can always count on you guys too."

There were collective " _Awww"s_ from everyone, making the second eldest giggle embarrassingly, hiding himself. "We mean that much to you, huh, Gyu?" Coos Chenle from beside him, getting pokes and tickles to get the elder to loosen up.

Soon enough, all pairs of eyes turn to both Huening Kai and Jeongin, waiting for either of them to take their turn.

Jeongin nudges Kai a little, "He chose for me, so he'll do the talking."

Surprisingly, there weren't any protests of, " _That's not fair, Hyung!_ " Or some form of that, considering he was cheating by not saying anything like the rest of them. But he didn't any discouragement of staying silent; the smiles they cast him are genuine, but all of their eyes focus on Kai instead, who stands up, in which Jeongin realizes, he has been very quiet the entire time.

Jeongin looks upwards to see the younger's face for any discomforted expression that may explain as to why he was quiet, but all he found was Kai smiling so softly and assuring, it was clearly a sign of something.

Something.. they had planned.

The second youngest takes out a question mark charm, the only face that changes to confusion this time being Jeongin, while everyone else only paid close attention to Kai's upcoming meaning behind such.

"I chose this yesterday," he confesses. Jeongin's confusion disappears.

"Taehyun was here with me when we booked the place. I was figuring out what to do while we were checking the place out, and I got the idea of making friendship bracelets since that could be a start, y'know?" Nods of agreements were here and there. Kai purses his dry lips, thinking, "But.. I wanted something far more than just bracelets to.. to connect our friendship. So the first thing I found was this,"

He holds up the question mark charm, showing everyone clearly, "I'd say it represents who I am in this group. Utterly mysterious, a little bit closed off since I haven't interacted much with you all, and.." Kai takes a risky, short glance to Jeongin, who grows slightly concerned, "..I guess.. I don't really know who I am in this group yet. I'm just.. Huening Kai."

The atmosphere feels a little tense, but Kai lifts his other hand from the box next to his; Jeongin's one. "And this.." He holds out a key charm, worn out metal, enchantingly old, almost as if it belonged in the ancient of times. Well crafted, indeed.

"This one is Jeongin-Hyung's. I picked it out for him since he couldn't find one and.. I picked this just today," he toys with the key a little, examining it carefully. "I figured.. its because Jeongin-Hyung is the reason for all of us to become friends. While I may have been distant, I found myself enjoying the company of our own maknae line," he winks towards the youngests, who snort back at him. "So, with that said, I thought about how Hyung has been the key to opening up our troubles, or he himself is just a key who opens stranger's doors and doesn't hesitate to help whoever he finds,"

Jeongin was far gone with his tightening chest and blurry eyes compiled with tears that started showing up at the word 'key'. He faced Kai with a look of confusion, emotional wreckage, and endearingly touched that it hurts.

Kai inhales, sucking in a shaky breath to prevent himself from crying since Jeongin already was, "He showed us how a Hyung, Oppa, or Sunbae should act, no matter who it is they meet. He doesn't care if we hate him, let alone dislike him, but he can show how much he cares and that can change anyone's view of him. I was almost dubbed a goddamn asshole- honestly.. I _was_ an asshole to you. I.. I pushed you, Hyung. Pushed you to admit a subject that wasn't supposed to be any of our business or to be talked about unless you were okay with it.."

The mood turned somber, with everyone looking down in shame and guilt. This matter had to be spoken of. And Jeongin needed to know something. Something he should've known.

"We're all sorry to you, Hyung. I, for myself, and on behalf of everyone else, apologize for not knowing-" Jeongin springs up to pause him but Kai holds up a hand, "- _even_ if we weren't supposed to know, it's something you shouldn't have to face alone. If you can't speak of this subject to your own group, then you have us. Bizarre to you as it may be, we all want to help." He grasps Jeongin's hands, making sure the eldest knew how much Kai meant this with the slight squeeze he bestowed.

"Kai is right, Yen," Ryujin stands, walking over to him, her expression shown serious and saddened, "You've taken your time these past few months to help us. Without even knowing it, you helped yourself by bringing us together."

Through the tears, Jeongin sees everyone has gathered around, smiling somberly but somewhat assuringly, wanting the eldest to know..

Know how much they cared.

"It's why we're making this today," Beomgyu gestures to the chain bracelet and charms, "Each one of these charms has a meaning behind them, and they all represent us. So if we all had each one of them together in our bracelets, then you'd know this is a promise that we'll never leave each other."

_"But we're here, we're never leaving. Until you're ready to say anything, were still around."_

" _We need you too."_

_".. Don't give up on us."_

_"..I want you to stay."_

The tear drops fell heavy and thick when he rammed himself into Kai, and Ryujin, Chenle, Beomgyu-

He pulls them all close, sobbing, trying to stifle them as quietly as possible but couldn't. Not when they were all here for him to lean on.

"..I miss Woojin-Hyung.."

Tears welled up in Yuna's eyes in an instant.

"..I hate that he left."

Beomgyu tucked himself between Chenle and Kai, exhaling, trembling.

"I wish it didn't affect me as much but it does and I _hate_ it. We're _all_ hurt."

Ryujin wipes at her eyes, Chaeryeong tries to soothe Jeongin's sobs.

"I wish he never promised Nine. I wish he never promised to stay.."

Jisung and Taehyun shake their heads at the words, disagreeing with their own understanding.

"..I hope you all stay.."

Kai tightens his hug, being the only one to fully hug Jeongin, sobbing just as much. He heard, saw and felt the pain Jeongin was feeling for so long. He brought out the best of his friends, showed the worst of himself, and in the end, nothing mattered but the idea of everyone staying together.

⁃

There were nine people in Jeongin's circle, all whom of which helped him to grow, helped him with whatever they could both in the idol life and as a band of brothers. They aided him and made sure he was kept safe from any sort of harm, and this included physical, mental, or emotional hurt.

When one chose to leave, he was left with seven, and a void that ached despite nothing being there.

He soon filled that void with eight people, none of which knew him very well.

Sure, none of them even experienced what he had. But when Jeongin helped each one of them, he unknowingly helped himself.

It doesn't hurt to help others even when you're hurt yourself. He grew to love them all, equally in his actions, and unconditionally in his heart.

**_Bonus Scene:_ **

They were lounging around in the area, having finished making the bracelets and are now just looking around the place to pass the time before Chenle, Ryujin and Yuna come back with some beverages they decided to order from across the street,

Jeongin was in one of the pods, phone in one hand with his social media open in it, and boyfriend in the other, caressing the dyed red hair that was too fuzzy to resist.

Speaking of red hair, he'd posted an obscured picture of Taehyun while holding his hand, showing off the new black ring in the Stray Kids' Instagram feed and was planning to post the other photos of his hangout with his friends. Said picture of Taehyun was separated from everyone else before he posts the other photos because he was feeling a little playful and wanted the fans to guess who he was with.

Turns out the bright ass auburn hair was spotted in his picture that he went to Twitter to discover his and Taehyun's name was trending like crazy because of it. MOAs and Stays alike were freaking out, much to his amusement. The tweets were literally exploding.

_"Omf is thAT KANG TAEHYUN??"_

_"That red hair.... those sneakers... thats him folks. has to be."_

_"JEONGIN IS HANGING OUT WITH KANG TAEHYUN OF TXT IM AT MY GRAVE BYE YALL"_

_"Theyre holding hands 👀👀 what does this mean"_

_"Yall see that ring tho???? GUYS???"_

Fuck.. The fans are gonna think he's engaged now. He hurriedly went to post the other photos they took, which, by the way, we're all aesthetically pleasing and absolutely worthy of any photoshoot should anyone want them for sale. Chenle and Ryujin weren't letting anyone go until they shot perfect and satisfying photos. It's not their first hang out, but it's the first where they're all finally together again to take photos. Before this, it's always been just the '01 line. None of the fans from any of their groups knew Yuna, Kai, Taehyun and Jisung had joined in spectacularly just yet.

And now, they do.

_"Holy shit it's a goddamn FEAST"_

_"Theyre all....hanging out..... my prayers have been answered"_

_"Look at how Ryujin is dragging Jeongin and pARK JISUNG??? HUENING KAI??? into the picture holy fuck yall stan twt aint ready for this"_

_"Taehyun gifted Jeongin the ring??? HSHDKDJ THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS SO CLOSE H O W"_

"Damn, Hyung, you just broke Twitter." Taehyun comments as he himself scrolls through the app. "Now Ryujin-Noona posted the pictures- and Jisung. We're gonna get an earful from our companies from this."

Jeongin chuckles, adjusting the pillow beneath him and making sure Taehyun is comfortable in his hold. "No harm done, Hyun. This may just help the fan wars die down and bring our groups up. Friendship aside, promotions have their advantage too."

Taehyun gasps, "You were doing this to gain popularity all along, weren't you? Wait til I tell the companies, they'll surely have a fit!"

The elder nuzzles into Taehyun's nape, humming, "That would also work in my favor, dear boyfriend. Maybe we'll become a joint group together if the companies allow it. Like SuperM, but the Generation Z of K-pop. The young avengers or something like that."

Unbeknownst to the drowsy and on the verge of falling asleep Jeongin, Taehyun hums back in reply when he snaps a selfie of them, not even trying to obscure Jeongin's sleepy face because he looked too fucking cute to censor.

Going to his Instagram Stories, Taehyun types down, " _the leader of Maknaetion everyone_ " and a few emojis for playful measure, then posts it.

Jeongin slumbers, knowing the end of this story has yet to reach anywhere, but the end to his lonely struggles were almost long gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a headcanon of Maknaetion being another 'Avengers of K-Pop' like SuperM but instead its the maknaes of NCT, TXT, SKZ and ITZY because this idea struck from how awesome their friendship could be. Like imagine their line up... their POWER. 
> 
> Well, someday.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed some fluffy Taehyun and Jeongin shtufffff
> 
> I cannot explain why i ship them, it just happened. I hope y'all feel the same way ahA
> 
> Thank you for reading this far! Hope you enjoyed :D

**Author's Note:**

> This also goes out to that one article on Jeongin and Beomgyu spending their New Years together with Hyunjin bc thats peak adorable.
> 
> And special thanks to TXT's 'Can't You See Me'. So good :)


End file.
